Just Her Sister
by MissyAwkward
Summary: Minnie had always lived under her sister's shadow. Mikaela was their father's favourite, was more popular, and she got the guy. But what happens when Minnie accidentally touches an Allspark shard? She awakens three Autobots that had crash-landed on earth years ago. Now she has to help her newfound friends find their fellow comrades before they run out of energon. Romance OC/OC!
1. Preface

**A/N: Hola, party peoples! That was my attempt at being cool. Amazing, right? Anyways, this is my first Transformers fan fiction ever, so if I get somethings wrong, please tell me. I want this story to be as amazing as possible, so if you see any mistakes, don't be afraid to point them out. But at the same time, no flames, please and thank you.**

**This story's based pre-Transformers, mid-Transformers, and post-Transformers. It might even go into ROTF for a bit, I'm not really sure, but I guess we'll have to see how it works out. And please don't forget to review, even if you absolutely hate this story, review and tell me .**

**And I've looked online and supposedly Mikaela and Sam live in Tranquility, but in the second one, when they're showing Sam's ID card/Driver's license (I'm having a brain cramp and I seriously can't remember which one) it says that he's from L.A. So, I just went with L.A. Hope you don't mind.**

**Now, on with the story!**

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Mikaela Banes? Ever heard of her? Well, of course you have. Everyone in the state's probably heard of her. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if everybody in the country knew who she was (I'm exaggerating, of course. That'd be impossible. Just thought I should clear that up... to avoid... confusion...)

Everyone just adored her. She was that popular girl that everyone wanted to be . That 'hot chick' every boy wanted to go out with (not to mention hook up with). The one everyone always looked up to. And who am I, you ask?

I was just her dorky twin sister.

Shocking, I know. You'd think that I'd be just as popular, wouldn't you? That I'd at least have something going for me just 'cause we were related.

Nope.

It's not scientifically possible for her to have nerd as a sibling.

Well, I guess I defy the laws of science. I'm just amazing like that.

I guess growing up was hard. My dad being a criminal didn't really help much. His idea of babysitting was letting us help him steal cars. Talk about a role model.

Fortunately for me, I found refuge in my books. In my studies. So as I was working my ass off, trying to build a future for myself (and trying not to end up like my father), Mikaela was swapping spit with jocks and getting us into trouble with the law.

Yeah. That's right. As if it wasn't bad enough for her to get in trouble herself, she had to bring me down with her. It's always been that way, unfortunately.

I have my own record for crying out loud! No university was going to take me in. I'd probably be stuck in community college or something. Imagine that. Me. In community college. Ha! That's like Barney swearing on television. Wait… that already happened didn't it? Bad example, but you get what I mean.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the boy I'd had a crush on since the fourth grade, likes Mikaela. His name? Sam Witwicky.

I'd always been stuck under the shadow of my sister. I knew that as long as I stayed in Los Angeles I'd always just be Mikaela's weirdo sister.

No, seriously, that's what they call me. "Yo! You're Mikaela's weirdo sister, right?" is a term that's used quite often at school.

At times I felt as I'd always be Mikaela's weirdo sister, and if that was the case, I couldn't do it anymore. I was tired of living in a town filled with narrow-minded people. I was tired of being my own best friend, no matter how much I insisted it fine (it wasn't fine). And I was tired of my talents only being needed when the jocks' grades were slipping ('cause football season is extremely important, you know?) or when the Matheletes had a big Tournament coming up (Yeah, I was in the Matheletes. Don't judge me)

But if you'd told me, before I left the state, that I'd be faced with a problem as big as saving the world and fighting giant robots, first I'd tell you you're crazy. Second, I probably would've stayed (Cowardly? Probably, but that's just how I roll).

But you can't change the past, or dwell on it for too long. I just wished somebody would've told me that, you know, before I got electrocuted by a 'Con, or took part in a high-speed car chase with transforming robots.

Well, everybody's got a story to tell (even though mine's way more exciting than everyone else's) and I guess this is mine.

I don't mean to brag, but, my story's pretty interesting. I meet Brad Pitt (kind of…), skydive without a parachute (It's not as fun as one might think), I go on a road trip with my buddies, - Yeah, my super high-tech, robotic buddies - get a new car, a condescending best friend, a boom box (All autonomous robotic life forms, of course. Only the finest for me), and find out I've got spark in me. Literally. A real, blue, Cybertronian spark inside of me.

And who am I, you ask? Well, I'm Mikaela Banes' weirdo sister, but you can call me Minnie for short.


	2. Chapter 1: What Does She See in Him?

**A/N: Hi, since I got some good feedback yesterday, I decided to update again today. But don't get excited, I don't update every single day. I'll probably update every week. I hope you like this chapter. And thanks for the reviews. They really mean a lot! **

**Lots of awkwardness**

**~ MissyAwkward**

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_To,_

_ Ms. "Minnie" Banes._

_ We are pleased to congratulate you on being nominated and selected to enter our prestigious program for Young Adults. You have been nominated by one of your professors for not just your outstanding school work but charitable volunteering, extra curricular activities and your astounding achievements. In return of all your hard work, you and thirty-nine other students shall be accepted in this program early and we shall provide a full scholarship. If you do decide to accept our offer, you shall start next fall, with a major in Engineering Sciences and a minor in Biochemistry. . ."_

I turned to Ms. Morrison, grinning like an idiot. "You nominated me?"

"How could I not?" she questioned, smiling. "You have the best marks out of anybody I've ever taught. And I've taught for almost 20 years. "

I still couldn't believe it. My hands were shaking in excitement. "I can't believe they've offered me a full scholarship! _Me_! I've wanted to get into this program for four years now. Do you know how many doors this could open? With this, I can finally leave Los Angeles and become something truly amazing." I stopped to look at Ms Morrison. "Thank you. "

She smiled, the action lighting up her blue eyes.

"It's the least I can do. I may have had to pull a few strings and make a few long-lasting phone calls, though. You better not let me down, Minnie. "

I shook my head, "I won't."

I took the bus home from school, like always. I could barely contain my happiness, though. I finally knew what it felt like to be high. You know, without the drugs, hallucinations and other various, dangerous side effects. I felt like running down the street, clicking my heels, like in those stupid musicals. Or swinging around a lamppost.

Somehow I ignored the old women who always seemed to gossip about how the teens of today are "hooligans that'll drive us all into the ground" and the strong smell of urine that lingered throughout the bus (because you and I both know, the bladders on old people aren't as strong as they used to be) and thought about my new school.

Only four more months.

After happily getting off the bus, I started to walk home. I thought about how I'd finally be away from this Hell Hole they called Los Angeles.

_Good bye Los Angeles. I'm not going to miss you. Goodbye stupid gym teachers that say I don't exercise enough. I'm on the fucking baseball team, damn it! But I guess nobody really gives a crap since we haven't won a single game in nine years. Goodbye narrow-minded people who don't know the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite. Or how to spell knowledgeable. Goodbye stupid jocks I have to tutor. Goodbye old women who gossip and on the bus, goodbye bus, and goodbye everything else. I'm definitely not going to miss this place. Well, I can't say that I'm not going to miss Sam. But I definitely won't miss his weirdo best friend. And they call me a freak of nature. . ._

I got home, throwing my backpack on the couch in the living room.

Looking around, I got the smell of aloe body lotion and Mikaela's _Victoria Secret_ perfume. There were various magazines and books scattered across the coffee table. The TV was on low, the _Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ playing. The house was pretty small itself, but it was the only home I'd ever known.

"Dad, are you in here? Dad, dad?" I shouted throughout the house. Hearing noise in the kitchen, I went to go investigate. Instead of finding my father, I could only see Mikaela.

She turned around, probably hearing my footsteps. "Oh, hey."

"Hi," I started awkwardly. "Where's dad?"

"He went to go talk to his parole officer. You know, so he doesn't mess up on his hearing."

I took a deep breath. I hoped everything went right. If he didn't behave, who knew what would happen to us. We were still minors, which meant there was still a possibility of us going into foster care. Unless one of our relatives took us in (and that wasn't going to happen soon. Let's just say our dad was a little… independent. And that didn't really make him the most well-liked person out there)

And no matter how much he neglected me, he was still my dad. I didn't want him to go to jail.

Mikaela ran around the kitchen. She picked up her phone and placed it in her pocket. At least she didn't put it in her bra this time. She stopped doing that when I called her when she was on a date with Trent and her phone started vibrating in her bra.

"Where are you going? Wait, let me guess," I looked at her clothes. Black, short shorts and pink top that came up to her stomach and showed off part of the top of her black bra. "you have another date with the Douche. "

Mikaela turned, narrowing her eyes at me. "Trent isn't a douche," I gave her a pointed look. "Okay, maybe he can come off as an asshole sometimes, but you've got to give him a chance. "

I didn't know why she went out with that loser. Not only was he an egotistical jock, but he was also filled with a high level of hormones. It wasn't safe for any girl to go out with him. Not to mention he's kind of an idiot. Too many hormones + jock + stupidity = Trent. And everybody knows Trent = Bad. Very bad. Like, apocalypse bad. It's simple mathematics, really.

A loud honking noise pierced the air, making Mikaela say, "That's him. Don't wait up."

"Mikaela there's a reason why nobody goes out with that guy. The 3/4 of his dick went straight into his personality. "

"Ha ha, you're so funny, Minnie," she remarked sarcastically.

I smiled and said, "I try my best. But seriously. You should really - Are you kidding me? You're wearing the slut shoes?"

Mikaela looked down at the pair of pink pumps. It was a gift from our aunt, who was very... promiscuous. In fact, she wasn't even out aunt. Apparently, she was an old family friend, but I don't think anybody knows where the hell she came from. She gave them to the both of us on our 13th birthday. Yeah, as if it wasn't bad enough that she gave us shoes we couldn't wear, we had to share them. Anyway, Mikaela and I decided that we wouldn't wear the obvious Prada knockoff because only sluts would wear them. Yeah, we were nice 13 year olds...

"Hey!" Mikaela protested, looking hurt. "That was three years ago. What did we know about sluts?" _Enough,_ I thought to myself. "Besides aunt Candy has some style."

"Aunt Candy is a slut. Mikaela -"

"Minnie, stop trying to tell me how to live my life. I'll date whoever I want to, wear whatever I want to. I don't need you breathing down my neck, judging me when you get the chance. "

"I was just trying to help. "

"Well I don't need it." she finished sternly. She softened when she saw the look on my face. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do but I'm 16 now. "

Mikaela moved forward to touch my arm but I moved back. "Okay, I get it. Mikaela's a big girl now. Just go."

The tension between us grew as Mikaela put on her shoes. It was like that for the past 3 years. We'd always been fighting. That one wasn't even one of our bad ones.

I missed the days when I could tell Mikaela anything and she'd actually be interested or be happy for me. Ever since we hit the seventh grade, we'd grown apart.

We had different interests. Different places we'd hang out. Mikaela had friends, I was labeled as weirdo along with Sam and Miles (Sucks, I know). I got all the praise from the teachers, Mikaela got it from everybody else's (including dad).

We tried to save our relationship, believe me, we did. But there was already too much of a difference.

We got tired of being around each other. It felt like the only mutual feeling we had was annoyance. We'd start fights over meaningless things. Mikaela moved out of my room. I stopped helping her with her homework. We didn't borrow each other's clothes. Friday movie nights were no more. We stopped sharing secrets. And eventually, we stopped talking.

The two of us only really started talking to each other this year. At the beginning of the year, we tried so hard to rebuild the sister/sister relationship we once had, and for a while it worked. We went shopping, did our nails, gossiped. But it didn't last for long.

Finally, we had to face the facts that our relationship would never be the same again. We would never be the same again.

Mikaela stood up, opening the door to go greet her "date" for the night.

She practically ran out of the house, greeting the douche with a hug. Through the window, I could see her asking him if she could drive his douche-mobile. I could almost hear his stupid laugh through the window. Trent climbed in the driver's seat, leaving Mikaela to open the door and climb in the passenger seat.

What did she see in him?


	3. Chapter 2: Going Insane

**A/N: Hey, guys? What's a crack-a-lackin'? Yeah, I know I haven't updated in a long time, and if I were you, I'd hate me so much. I've just been busy studying, doing homework, I had a basketball tournament this whole week, I had to practice my instrument and babysit. I know, that's no excuse, that's why I made this chapter longer than normal.**

**The last line (well, it's more of her thoughts) is sort of stolen from the first episode from the show _Misfits._ Shout out to all the _Misfits_ fans out there!**

**And thanks again for reading. I promise the story will start to pick up later. The Cybertronians will make an appearance next chapter. Trust me, it'll be pretty cool.**

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_**3 Weeks Later**_

"Sam!" I screamed down the hallway.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning to look back at me. I swear, I almost melted at the sight of his radiant smile. Trying to balance the books in my arms, I made my way to a very excited Sam Witwicky.

"So? How was the presentation? I heard you tried to sell your grandfather's glasses. What did I tell you about bringing up eBay in class, Ladiesman217?"

Sam shot me a playful glare. "Ha ha, very funny. But I got an A minus. Which, is still an A. Which means I get my car."

Something inside of me wanted to tell Sam that an A minus wasn't technically an A. It didn't make any sense to me. It was either a B or an A. There is no in-between. But I pushed aside that nagging feeling and gave him a smile.

Together, we walked out of the school. Sam found his father's car, running toward it.

He acted so childishly sometimes. It was like he was in elementary. All the more reason why I liked him. I mean, imagine dating someone who was serious all the time. But at the same time, there was line to how childish you can be. Like Miles, for example. He crossed that line.

"So I'm good?" I heard Sam ask.

"You're good."

I walked up to the car to wish him good luck. Sam had always talked about his parents. He talked about his father's obsession with grass, and how his mother was extremely nosy. Sam always had an air of annoyance in his voice, but I knew he loved them and wouldn't give them up for the world. He didn't know how lucky he was to have such loving parents.

"Hey, Sam, Mr. Witwicky," I greeted them, balancing my books on one hand, so I could wave at them. "I just wanted to wish you good luck on the car." I looked at Sam's father. "My name's Minnie, by the way."

Mr. Witwicky smiled at me. "It's nice to meet you. What are you, Sam's girlfriend?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. Almost immediately, Sam broke out into laughter. I put on a fake smile.

It was moments like that when I knew for a fact that Sam would never like me. I'd liked Sam since the fourth grade. It was really easy to tell if you looked hard enough. But it was common knowledge that Sam liked Mikaela, which was unfortunate for me.

I started laughing, too; it would've seemed suspicious if I didn't. Unfortunately, I'm not that good fake laughing. It sounded way too forced, even for me. And I couldn't help it when my laugh turned bitter at the thought of Sam liking Mikaela. In fact, it tuned into a normal laugh, to a maniacal laugh of somebody that belonged into an Asylum.

I finally stopped, looking up at the two men. They stared at me like I was insane. Giving them another fake smile, I said, "That was really funny,"

Sam shot me a weird look, before turning to his dad. "Yeah, me and Minnie are just friends,"

"Yeah," I agreed, trying not to sound dejected. "We're just friends. Really good friends," I ended the sentence with a grin. Sam and Mr. Witwicky smiled at me. "Anyways, I've got to go. I have work today," I quit my job at _Foot Locker_ yesterday. "I hope you have fun. Bye."

I started to walk away.

_Me and Minnie are just friends._ I knew he was just saying that because his dad was there. If it were anyone else he would've said, _We're in the same English class._ It's actually a surprise because a lot of his sentences were grammatically incorrect.

Why couldn't I be more like Mikaela? That way at least one guy would ask me out or something. And at least I'd have a group of friends, instead of trying to pretend that Sam and I are actually close.

The walk was a long one. It was a friday, and I never took the bus on Fridays. Besides, the weather was beautiful. The sun was out and there were barely any clouds in sight. It was the perfect day for me to wear shorts.

I walked through skyscrapers that towered over me. Sometimes I wondered how it would be like if I lived in a small town. It'd be almost impossible. Who would ever trade skyscrapers to small, brick buildings?

I'd made my way through the outskirts of town. There was really nothing there except for a small _Dunkin' Donuts_ and a few other shops that never had too many customers. There wasn't a car there that belonged to this century and the houses weren't all that big.

Turning to the left, I saw a sign that was up ahead. _Archie's Junkyard_ it read. The sign was dusty and some of the letters were hanging on the edges. The _Junkyard_ part was newly added but it still looked just as bad.

I walked inside of the junkyard. Nobody really liked to come by. Hell, the only reason I found this place was because I was lost and the owner was a friend of my father. Well, I wouldn't exactly say _friend_. I guess they just knew each other.

"4:45. Right on schedule," I heard a deep voice call out.

Looking to my right I saw a tall man. He looked about 6 foot 3. His bright, blue eyes and blonde hair contrasted with his tan skin. The shirt he was wearing showed off the muscles in his arms, and his booming laugh would probably end up making me deaf.

"What can I say, Archie? I'm pretty punctual," I replied, my voice cheeky.

Archie shook his head, smiling at me. "Well, I haven't seen you in over a month, Minnie. Finally found something better to do than spend time in a junkyard?"

"Whatever," I brushed off the insult. As if I could find something better to do than spend time in a junkyard. "And you know I couldn't make it. With all the preparations and the studying. I haven't even begun packing yet."

Archie and I had started to walk. I made an effort to kick the stones that were on the ground. It'd been a habit of mine when I was younger. Mikaela found it annoying, especially when we went on walks.

"I thought you said the program was in the fall,"

I grimaced. "They're starting a summer program. Technically the work doesn't start until mid-July but I wanted to get there early. You know, get a feel for the program, the faculty, the students and the equipment. Besides, I've got to get a head-start on all the other students."

"I hope you have fun then, Minnie," I smiled. He was the first person to say that to me.

I grinned at Archie. "Thanks."

We walked on for a little while, exchanging stories, opinions and jokes (that was mostly Archie). Archie was probably the only real friend I had, which was pretty pathetic if you ask me. I mean, someone who's twenty-two was hanging out with someone who was sixteen. I needed to find friends my age.

Archie had inherited his father's junkyard two years ago when his father died. He was originally going to turn it into a car dealership but he didn't have enough money to open a car dealership _and_ go to college.

"Holy crap!" Archie exclaimed. "I forgot, I have this _huge_ assignment I have to finish! Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot," Archie had already begun to backtrack out of the junkyard. "Sorry, Minnie, but I've got to go! Bye!"

Returning an enthusiastic "Bye!" I shook my head. That guy would forget his own head if it wasn't stuck to his head.

I stuck my hands in my pockets, feeling a cold breeze pass by. Time had passed by quickly. I should have started to walk back home, but I didn't. Maybe I was stupid or delusional but I felt weird, you know? The feeling was hard to explain, but it was like hearing your mom call you then finding out she wasn't. But I was looking for mom, where the voice came from.

Yeah, I'm not good at explaining things.

The sun had already started to go down. I found myself wondering what I was still doing there. It was getting late and I still had homework to complete and I had to start packing. Besides, I was probably being delusional. I mean, I was hearing things.

Just as I was about to turn around and go back home, something caught my eye. It was a faint, blue light. "What the. . .?" I muttered I could just make it out underneath a pile of cars. _It's probably a glow stick,_ I said to myself, but for some reason I wanted to check it out.

I slowly made my way over to the pile of cars. My hand caught hold of what used to be a car's bumper. I placed my foot on a crushed door, and my other foot on a damaged hood. I climbed up again, the blue light glowing brighter as I approached it. Or maybe I was seeing things again.

I stopped climbing when I was directly in front of the bright object. The was a hole just in front of me, making the object clear. All of a sudden, it stopped glowing. I had to blink my eyes a couple of times, just to make sure that I wasn't imagining things.

My hand reached through the hole, my fingers trying to find out where the object was. I was just hoping that whatever the thing was, wasn't radioactive. I finally got the edge of the thin object within my fingers. When I was sure I had it in my hands, I brought it towards me.

I climbed down from the car pile and looked at the object in my hands. It was very thin, maybe two inches long. Strange drawings and symbols filled the object from every corner. It looked like a shard of some sort. _What a piece of crap,_ I thought. I did all that climbing for nothing. I could have fallen and rolled my ankle and for what?

A sudden feeling of annoyance came over me. The sky was turning into a shade of indigo. _Great_! Now I had to walk home in the dark. I was probably going to get jumped or raped. Or shot. _This_ was why I needed a car!

I sharp sting in my hand made me cry out in pain. "Ow, what the hell?" I questioned. Looking down, I saw the symbols on the shard glowing.

I leaned in, looking at the thing closer. What the hell was this thing? I didn't look like a toy or an electrical appliance. I would've seen it on T.V. Maybe it was some sort freaky, C.I.A., Secret Service gadget thing. _Yeah, and I'm seven feet tall and I have a moustache._

Turning it over and over, I frowned. What could it be? I brought closer to my face. It seemed out of this world. The object started heating up, feeling pretty warm. I left it in my right hand, taking advantage of its warmth. It started to get warmer and warmer to the point where it got uncomfortable. I cried out when it got painful, letting go of the shard.

Looking at my hand, I saw a symbol. It looked almost like a robot.

I stared at the shard. It lay on my brown, gladiator sandals. Suddenly, the thing seemed to come to life, encasing my foot in bright, blue vines. I screamed, falling to the floor. My hands flew to my feet, desperately trying to claw the blue vines off. Every time my fingers came into contact with the vines they got burned.

The vines twisted and turned all around my legs and thighs, covering up my black shorts. My fingers had started bleeding and tears had started to escape my eyes. I didn't exactly want to die.

"Somebody help!" I yelled, trying to get somebody's, anybody's, attention. But with my luck a football game was on, and if that was the case, there wasn't a soul that was going to help.

The vines had made it up to my neck, making me panic. I was trembling when the vines came closer and closer to my eyes. Suddenly I was enveloped in a world of blue.

And as soon as the blue light engulfed me, it left. Like it was inside of me. Just when I thought it was over, a wave of blue spread. It was like a ring sapphire spreading all across the junkyard. I watched it expand outside of the junkyard, making its way to who knows where.

My heart threatened to beat out of my chest, when I saw the shard in my hand again, and this time it wasn't glowing. _I'm dreaming,_ I told myself. _This isn't real. I'm probably just imagining things. Or maybe I'm hallucinating. _Whatever the case was, I knew I didn't want to be there anymore.

I launched the shard far away. It went over a pile of spare parts, disappearing in the distance. _I'm going insane. It's the only reasonable explanation. _But what if I wasn't? What if this was all real and everything that just happened was for a reason?

I couldn't have hallucinated because I could steal feel the pain. Looking down, I saw the engraving on my hand. Traced from my blood, the robot face was still on my hand. It stung like putting alcohol on a wound… which was probably what I would have to do when I got home.

I sighed, slowly walking away. _It was probably nothing,_ I told myself. _By the same time next week I'll be doing the same shit as always._ If only I knew what I'd just got myself into.


	4. Chapter 3: New Bot in Town

__**A/N: Hey guys! I know you're mad at me for not updating in a while and instead of saying sorry, I wrote another chapter. It's just hard to write the beginning because it's so boring, but just because I haven't updated in a while I'm just going to say the next chapter will be awesome. Minnie + 3 mechs = chaos. Anyways I've revealed too much. My lips are sealed.**

**- Missy Awkward.**

**PS. I'm not always going to write in third person but I felt like this was important for the story.**

**PPS. If you have any ideas for names for the Autobots I'd like to hear them. I've got an idea for one, but I'm still looking for some more. And thanks for reading my story! Oh, and if you find some mistakes please tell me! I'm always looking to improve.**

**On to the chapter!**

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SYSTEMS_ LAUNCH._

_STATUS: ONLINE_

_LAUNCHING LOCATOR. SEARCHING FOR AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC ORGANISMS… SYSTEM FAILURE. LAUNCHING LOCATOR. SEARCHING FOR AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC ORGANISMS AGAIN… SYSTEM FAILURE._

The robot opened an optic, confused on his whereabouts. For miles all he could see where scraps of metal. He slowly opened the other optic, searching and scanning his surroundings for any possible threat. There was none.

MEMORY LAUNCH.

The Cybertronian's eyes brightened as all his memories started flowing back into his mind. He was from the planet Cybertron which was in a war at the moment. The Autobots against the Decepticons. He was an autobot. Yes, he remembered, he was one of the good guys.

He'd been sent to this planet (Earth, if he wasn't mistaken) on a mission. To follow Megatron and make sure he didn't find the Allspark and find it himself. He frowned. How long ago was that? How long had it been since he'd crash landed on this planet? Had Megatron found the Allspark? Had he taken over the planet?

The robot shook his head. He couldn't afford to think like that.

He made an effort to stand up but found that it was in vain. The Autobot was buried under a pile of metal that was almost twice his weight. Shifting his arm, he activated the canon on his arm. With a loud bang, the pile of metal that once buried him ceased to exist.

Once more, he tried to stand up. His legs shook, getting used to the planet's gravitational pull. When the Cybertronian finally got a hang of his footing, he stood tall and strong.

FIND THE ALLSPARK

That was his main goal. His fellow Autobots were relying on him to find it. It could mean the end of the war. The robot spark shone brighter at the thought of the war being over. Then he could rejoice with his brothers.

He frowned when he thought of his brothers. Though they were not related in the true sense of the word, he felt that they were bonded for a life time. He would risk anything for them, even give up his own spark if the situation presented itself.

The Cybertronian had to find his friends. The ones that came with him on the mission. They couldn't be too far. He knew that they landed pretty close to one another. He thought about speaking to them via comm, but the crash had made his communicating via comm almost impossible. He would have to get that fixed as soon as possible.

His locating system wasn't so good either. He could only pick up faint traces of Cybertronian energy. The Allspark must've been near or maybe it had been near and was now halfway across the planet. Either way, the giant robot couldn't tell.

His systems had already begun to adapt to the Earthen culture. He scanned the internet, learning the most popular language of the region he was in: English. He wondered if he should look up more Earthen habits (he had already been briefed on a few when he was on Cybertron and admitted they were very interesting creatures indeed) but thought better of it. The mech would have time for that later.

The giant robot concluded that he would find his companions first. After all, it would be easier to find the Allspark with them instead of without them.

He began to walk out of the junkyard, scanning everything in sight. If the times had passed since he'd first crash-landed on earth, that would mean there would definitely be more Decepticons around. Their systems would be more advanced and he didn't think that he would be able to take them on.

The mech browsed the empty street in front of him, making sure there were no humans there. When the coast was clear, the Cybertronian stalked out onto the street, trying to decide where to go. It was moments like that when he wished he was small. The sound of his heavy footsteps slamming on the paved road made himself cringe.

He turned a corner, and if he was human he knew that his heart would've stopped. The Cybertronian heard a loud shrieking sound. It came from a femme. No, what were they called here on earth again? Right, women.

She had straight, short, blonde hair that came up to her shoulders. Her bright, green eyes were in shock. The female couldn't be older than the age of adulthood. But the fact that she was walking out at night by herself must've meant that she was.

Jenna knew that she shouldn't have walked alone at three in the morning alone, but her restlessness got the best of her. She had to go outside and get some fresh air. But she never would've thought she would've found a fifteen foot tall robot standing in front of her.

She tripped over her own feet, trying to get away from the… _thing_. "Oh my God," she started quietly. Then when eyes saw the canon on his arm, Jenna was terrified. "Oh my God. Oh my God! Help! Somebody help me!"

The Autobot was scared by all the attention she was attracting. He knew he had to calm her down. "Look, I'm not here to harm you," he assured her.

"Oh my fucking God, it talks! You're - but - this isn't possible!" yelled Jenna. If anything, the mech had only scared her more.

The Cybertronian flinched when he heard a high-pitched sound. Looking down, he saw something in Jenna's mouth. What was that and why was she doing that?

Jenna was glad that she brought her rape whistle. Of course, when her mother gave it to her she thought she was being a paranoid old bag. But she now saw the error of her ways. She could hear the siren of a cop car. If she kept blowing her whistle, maybe cops would arrive faster. Maybe the machine would leave. And maybe, just maybe, this would all be a dream.

When the mech heard the sirens, he knew he had to make a break for it. He couldn't afford to be caught by the human authorities. Back home, in Cybertron, he heard stories about what the humans could do to them. And he wouldn't be able to protect himself without hurting the humans, which was against his morals.

So the robot did the only thing he could do; he ran. The pounding of the paved road still made him wince inside but he could live with it. As long as he was alive in the end, that was all that mattered.

Jenna's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the _thing_ run away. She didn't even know something of that size could even move that fast. In fact, there was nothing in the world like that. At all. God, somebody must've put something in her drink.

The sirens were louder and brought Jenna out of her thoughts. Jenna got off of the ground, searching for the police car that was bound to show up. When she saw it, she ran up to it. "Officer! Officer, please help!"

The officer rolled the window down. Jenna was relieved that he was there. "What seems to be the problem, ma'am?" the cop asked, his voice showing concern.

"I - I - there was a - but then it - I tried to run -" Jenna couldn't even speak. She finally realized just how terrified and amazed she was. It was a giant robot that could talk. If Jenna didn't know any better, she would've said that it had a mind of its own.

"Calm down, ma'am. I'll take you to the station, get you some hot chocolate, then talk about it there, okay?" Jenna nodded her head. She was glad that somebody was being nice to her, even though it was probably out of pity. Jenna realized that he must've thought that somebody had taken _advantage_ of her. She shivered at the thought.

Jenna was thankful nonetheless. She didn't think she could walk home after something like that happened.

The blonde walked over to the other side of the cop car, seeing that there were papers occupying the seat that was on her side. She surveyed the car as she walked around. It looked newer than a lot of the cop cars that she'd seen in the city. Jenna shrugged; it must've been an upgraded version. Before she got inside the car, Jenna saw something on the police car that she hadn't seen on any other car in L.A.

_To punish and enslave._


	5. Chapter 4: Giant Robot

Have you ever had that feeling when you feel like you're in a dream? As if nothing's real and you're just imagining everything? I have, and let me just tell you, it's not the best feeling in world.

After the whole, light burst/weird-ass technology malfunction thing, I went straight home. I skipped supper and went to sleep. To say I was freaked out was an understatement. I actually thought I was going to throw up. Anyways, I thought by going to sleep I'd forget everything and wake up the next morning not remembering what'd happened the night before.

No such luck.

When I woke up the next day, my right hand hurt like hell. The engraving of the robot face was still on my hand. I knew it couldn't have been a dream if that robot face was on my hand. It'd actually happened.

But what exactly _did_ happen to me? I mean, was I probed by some weird alien life form? Was I in the middle of a practical joke? Did the Secret Service choose me to test out some gadget or was it just an accident that I happened to find that shard?

I had a million questions but not one single answer. And I hate to admit it, but it scared the living hell out of me.

So, for the next few days I tried to forget about it. It worked at first, but whatever I did it just came back into my mind. The only comfort I had been my departure in a few days. I knew that as soon as I left L.A. I'd leave everything behind… or at least I hoped I would.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. It wasn't the time to think about things like that. I had more important things to worry about, like packing.

Believe it or not I haven't even started yet. Every time I put something in my suitcase, I always ended up just taking it back out. This wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't leaving in two days.

I decided I'd take a break. Falling back on the couch, I reached for the TV remote, turning on the television on. I sighed when I saw the news come on, but raised my eyebrows when I saw the headline.

GIANT ROBOTS?

I rolled my eyes. _Here comes _another_ story from some attention-seeking whore,_ I thought to myself. _This should be interesting._

There was a girl on-screen didn't _look_ crazy, but you never know. Actually, she was quite pretty. She had short blonde hair that came to her shoulders. Her green eyes were really bright. Too bright, in fact. They looked like a cat's eyes. _Jenna Lynk, _read the TV screen. The name sounded familiar. Maybe I'd seen her around school or something.

"I'm telling you! There was a giant robot! Maybe fifteen feet tall or something, I don't know. But I know what I saw! I know what I saw!" shouted Jenna. She seemed really persistent. And a bit crazy.

The TV screen switched back to the reporter. She smiled in her seat, her pearly white teeth gleaming. "Jenna Lynk, the seventeen year old girl, claims she saw a "giant robot". Normally, cases like these are usually discarded, but there seems to be a substantial amount of clues left that "support" this theory,"

The new report continued to show what were supposedly "giant footprints" and "craters where the giant robots" canons had shot." If this is what passes for news in the city, then I'm not exactly sure I want to live in this world anymore.

Then they showed further footage of Jenna. "I was taking a walk at night and it was right there! I swear, it's real. It could even talk!" I grabbed the TV remote, ready to turn the channel. "I was at the junkyard, it happened right after that blue light lit up the sky -"

I had already changed to the other channel. _Some people are freaking insane. What was she doing taking a walk at night… in a… junkyard… _

A light bulb went off in my head. I frantically, pressed the buttons on the remote, but it just kept switching to different channels. "Come on!" I shouted, attacking the buttons, as if it would make them work properly. When it switched back to the news channel, there was footage of a bright light that had been at the junkyard.

_Oh. My. God,_ I thought as the footage was rolling. It hadn't been a dream. It was real. It was very real, and now everybody in America had found out about, what was supposedly, my little secret.

"Some say that it's a UFO, others think that it somebody's version of a practical joke. Whether it be a prank or a giant robot, it seems to be Los Angeles's greatest mystery, at the moment. Back to you, Tom," the reporter had said.

"Crap,"

* * *

I never did get my packing done that night. Partially because I kept thinking about Jenna's words. _I know what I saw!_ Every time I thought of that, I smiled I mean, come on. You can't tell me that isn't the least bit funny), then the thought of that blue light came into my mind.

I decided to go on the internet. Why not research the topic? It seemed like a hell of a lot better than just sitting on my bed, doing nothing.

Rushing to the computer, I logged into my account. I quickly typed in google on the web browser. I frowned, thinking of what I was going to type in. I sighed. There were so many places to start. I typed in "giant robots." _That should be a good place to start,_ I told myself.

It wasn't.

I went through pages and pages of results that lead to absolutely nothing. Well, nothing _important_. All there was, was speculation about the news report. I also stumbled across _other things_ (if you catch my drift), but I got out of there pretty fast.

_Maybe I should search something else,_ I thought. But what else could I search? I thought back to the night with the shard. It had all sort of symbols on it. I started typing as I thought about the shard. It had to be linked with something. I mean, giant robots are a bit much, but there had to be an explanation for it. And I was going to find it.

Nothing even remotely good came up as I was going through the results. I was about to give up until I came across this article.

It was about the National Arctic Circle Expedition in 1897. Their ship had become frozen in the water. When the crew was trying to chip the ship free, the dogs were attracted to a break in the ice. The Captain and the dog fell through. It was said that he'd found a great discovery but had become blind in the process. The captain had spent the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals, drawing strange symbols and ranting about an Ice Man.

I clicked on one of the pictures of the drawings he drew. _Holy crap,_ I muttered inside my head. The drawings were almost identical to the ones on the shard.

Scrolling down again, I gasped at the captain's name. _Captain Archibald Amundsen Witwicky._ I remembered Sam telling me about his crazy great-great grandfather (or something like that) but I never would've guessed that we'd be linked in some sort of weird way.

I shut down the computer, running to the living room. Nobody was home. I remembered dad telling me about a meeting with his lawyer or something of the sort, and Mikaela was with some stupid party with Trent at a lake or something. I wasn't exactly good at remembering things.

Grabbing my black, _Nike _high tops, I ran out of the house. When I was outside, I ran back inside. I grabbed the money that was on the coffee table. I'd almost forgot money for the bus.

I then ran back outside… again. I needed to get to that junkyard.

* * *

It was practically dark outside when I arrived at the junkyard. I missed by bus stop and had to walk all the way here. And to be honest, it wasn't even my fault. Some grandma came and asked me all sorts of questions about working her phone. Like, seriously. If you don't know how to use one, don't get one.

By the time I got to the junkyard I was already pissed off to say the least. Add that to a list of rapidly growing emotions. The fact that I was leaving to New York tomorrow for the early education program seemed to be catching up to me. What if I didn't want to leave? I mean, yeah, it's the opportunity for a lifetime, but would it be ungrateful to say that I didn't want it?

I got to the middle of the junkyard. The shard could've been anywhere, really. I chucked that thing really far, last time I remembered. But I had to know. Why did that weird light happen to me? And what did it mean?

As if by some miracle, I saw a light. A blue light. The same blue light that I saw a few days ago.

I started to run towards it. This would be it. I'd find all the answers I needed. There would be some reasonable explanation to everything, and then everything would go back to normal. Yeah, if only life worked that way.

I picked up the shard. It glowed in my hand, making me frown. It shouldn't have been that easy for me to find the shard. In fact, I shouldn't have found it at all. My thoughts were interrupted by a sound. Turning around, I made sure no one was there.

Turning back around, I heard the sound again. Turning a complete 360, I still couldn't figure out where the sound came from. And if it wasn't around me then it was either below or above me. I could scratch out below me, because, come on, that'd be ridiculous.

I closed my hand over the shard and brought my head up slowly. At first I thought it was nothing. Then two blue circles appeared. No, not circles. _Eyes_. Even though it was dark out, there were enough street lights on for me to make out the figure. The _giant_ figure.

It was as if I was an ant compared to whatever _it _was. My eyes were locked to its blue ones. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. So, I did the only thing I could do.

I fainted.

_**A/N: Before you get extremely pissed off, I'm really, really, really sorry I haven't updated in a while. And I know that I shouldn't be using excuses, but I'm really sorry. I've had a lot on my plate. So did you like it? Personally, I felt like it was my worst chapter yet. It felt forced. Anyways, thanks to **_**The Rain On Your Parade**_** and **_**AndromedaAI**_** for the suggestions. I still don't know if I'm using them or not. If I do I'll credit you in the next chapter.**_

_**Thanks for reading.**_


	6. Chapter 5: Leap of Faith

"What do we do with it?"

"It's not an _it_. It's a _her_. She's a female."

"Whatever. Same thing."

I could hear voices all around me. My eyes fluttered, but I couldn't keep them open. There was a burning sensation on my right hand, I had an overwhelming urge to vomit and my head had been pounding. Why did all the bad things happen to me?

When I'd finally opened my eyes, I couldn't focus on anything. Not to mention, the sun had set. My eyes were finding it hard to adjust to the lack of light. I could make out blurry figures. And blue dots. Six, I counted. And the voices had stopped.

"She's awake,"

A voice had spoken. It was deep with an underlying tone of authority in it. It didn't send shivers down my back, but it did give my stomach a terrible feeling. As if somebody had mixed my insides around a couple of times. And that was just as bad.

Sitting up slowly, I tried to figure out where I was. The last thing I remembered was going to the junkyard. And then… My memories had started to come back, one by one. Looking up at those six blue circles, I realized that's not all they were. They were _eyes_.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Somebody help!" I screamed. I was in a junkyard, surrounded by three, giant robots. I mean, I probably could've handled it better if it was just one. Oh, please… who am I kidding? There was no way I could've handled one, let alone three! _I'm going to die,_ I thought to myself.

Picking ups nearby crowbar, I stood up, in my baseball stance. "I'm not afraid to hurt you!" I called out, shaking like a Chihuahua. It didn't help that I was wearing shorts when it was freezing. Well, it's not like I'd known I'd be spending the night at junkyard. _The next time this happens, I'll bring my sleeping bag,_ I thought bitterly.

I could now make out the shapes. The robots weren't all… giant. I mean, one was at least fifteen feet tall. He towered over me like I would a ladybug. He was frightening. He could've made me pee my pants with just one look (In fact, I probably would've if it wasn't for my impressive bladder). But the other ones weren't as big. Not even close. One was about my height. Probably taller, I didn't know. And another didn't even make it to hips. But that didn't make them any less scarier.

"I mean it!" I yelled, staring at the three. "You take one more step and I will hurt you. I will bring the pain! I know Karate. In fact, I am a black belt! I beat this other kid from this dojo with one foot! I - I - I'm also part of a gang! I know it may not look like it but I can - I can shoot. You're just lucky I wasn't with my - my uh… my homies or some serious shit would've gone down! Seriously!" Watching movies certainly helps when you're trying to bluff your way out of a confrontation. Especially if they've never seen the movie before.

The one who was about my height moved closer to me, making my heart race. Just the fact that it was alive and it could move scared the crap out of me. I thought maybe if I kept my façade up that maybe he'd leave me alone. Maybe it'd go back to wherever the hell it came from.

It moved even closer to me, maybe even five feet away from me, and that's when I started to panic, dropping the crowbar in cowardice. "Oh my God, please don't kill me! Please, I swear! I'll even take you to my leader, just don't hurt me. I don't want to die. I've got a dad at home who needs me. My sister can be total bitch sometimes but I still love her. She'd be devastated if I died, or at least that's what I'm thinking. And it's not fair! I have my whole life ahead of me. I'm only sixteen!"

"Shut up already!"

My mouth hung open when the robot in front of me talked. It could talk. Walking was one thing but talking? That shouldn't exactly be possible. And it didn't just speak in an American accent, no. It was a Spanish accent. I was being told off by a Spanish robot. Too much. This was too much.

"This isn't possible," I stated, more to myself than them. "You're talking,"

"No shit, Sherlock," the robot responded sarcastically.

The deeper voice spoke: "Springs, that's enough. You've frightened her enough as it is."

It was the voice that spoke earlier. The voice that felt like my insides were being twisted around. I didn't know what it was about that voice. It felt regal, almost. Like, I should be bowing down to whomever the voice belonged to. It held such authority. Like a general or a captain, maybe.

The giant robot tried moving closer to me, even making an effort to kneel and reach his arm out to me. I took a couple of steps back. There was no way I was getting anywhere near that thing. It was like if somebody you didn't know offered you candy. Would you take it? Well, I wasn't about to, thank you very much.

"What are you?" I asked. When they didn't answer I asked again, "_What_ are you?"

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." the big one answered. "Or Autobots for short."

I closed my eyes, sighing. "Autonomous robots - Autobots. I guess that makes sense. I can do this." I muttered to myself. I wanted answers to my questions, so why did I suddenly feel as if I should've just let the whole thing go? _No, you can do this, Minnie. You wanted somebody to answer your questions and here's a perfectly good somebody. _

"Where did you guys learn to talk like that" I demanded.

"Internet," the one who was apparently called "Springs" replied.

I nodded my head. He could probably learn whole languages in a day. I found that pretty fascinating. What could've taken me years to learn probably took him less than twenty-four hours. I wondered what else they could do.

"Why are you here? Why are you on Planet Earth?"

The supposed leader of the group, the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) answered my question. "We are here to find the All Spark."

"I don't get it," I told him. "What's so important about this "All Spark"?"

"You see, before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that possesses the power to create worlds and fill them with like. That is how our race was born, how Cybertron was born. For a time, we lived in harmony, but some wanted it for goods and others wanted it for evil."

I could describe the look on his face. Grief? Regret? It made me frown in pity. "We were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed. Our war devoured the planet, and the All Spark was lost to the stars. Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots had heard word of Megatron going after the Cube. Following it to a far off planet."

"Earth," I said softly.

"Yes, and he set the three of us off to pursue Megatron. Though we did not foresee the ambush planned by Starscream. We'd made it out alive, but he'd damaged our ship. We crash landed on earth and we've stayed here for a century. Now we have to find the others and stop Megatron."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, just give me a second. This is a lot to take in," Alien robots coming to fight their war on my planet? That was a bit hard to believe. And if this All Spark was so important why didn't they start looking already? "Why am I here then? I find it hard to believe that you waited for me to wake up because you wanted to have this little chat with me."

"Why don't you ask him?" Springs had said with bitterness in his voice. He sat down a pile of rusted car doors, saying, "It's his brilliant idea. If it was up to me, we'd already be out of here."

The big guy seemed to ignore him. "During the crash-landing to earth, our ship wasn't the only thing that was damaged. Our locating systems are in poor condition. It won't even pick up on the slightest hint of Cybertronian energy. Our comm. systems are in need of repair also, but those can be repaired easily. But we've lost some energon during the crash as well. Energon is our fuel source. There is none on Earth that we know of, considering we haven't been around for too long to find any."

I still didn't understand what that had to do with me. It wasn't like I knew where the All Spark was. It wasn't like I could find some energy (or energize? I didn't remember what it was called) with a wave of my magic wand.

A light bulb went of in my head. "You want me to help you find the All Spark and your fuel source?" I asked. The BFG looked down at me expectantly.

"Who better to help us find our way on this planet, while teaching us their customs, than an inhabitant?" the Autobot questioned.

I started to shake my head. "No, no!" I flinched when I saw his crestfallen face. Maybe I said that a bit too harsh. "I'm sorry, but you're asking the wrong person. I have absolutely no sense of direction. The one time I went camping, I got lost in the woods for almost four hours. I barely know the whole of Los Angeles, how am I going to find the All Spark if I have to look all over America? I mean, I know a thing or two about fuel, but nothing like that."

"See, man. I told you she wasn't going to help." muttered Springs, blaming me.

For some reason his little comment didn't sit well with me. In fact, I blew up at him. "Look, I didn't ask for you to put the fate of your lives into my hands! I didn't ask for this, okay? I had my whole life practically planned out before any of this. Then I go walking in a stupid junkyard and my whole life is turned upside down! I find some stupid shard with weird symbols -"

"A shard?" the leader of the trio interrupted.

"Yes, a freaking shard!" I took it out of my pocket just to show them. "This thing lights up like the Fourth of July and practically burns a hole through my hand!" I showed them my hand too, for dramatic effect. "And then a few days later giant robots surround me and tell me that I'm supposed to help them find something that could possibly end their alien war! Well, you know what I say to that?"

"The All Spark."

I close my hands into fists. "No! Haven't you been listening to me?"

"No, you idiot," Spring said to me, rolling his eyes. "The thing in your hand. That shard came from the All Spark itself. Do you know how valuable it is?"

Looking down at my hand, I looked at the shard again. "The fact that you found that shard was no accident," the BFG told me. It was like some Karate master telling his student that there are no accidents in life and some other philosophical crap. "Are fates are now intertwined. You hold the key to helping us uncover the location of the shard and some energon."

What Springs had said next really got to me. "As much as it pains me to tell you this, we need your help."

They needed my help.

For the first time in my life I didn't know what I wanted. Like I told the three of them before, I'd had my whole life planned out since my freshman year. First I'd go to this program. Go off to an Ivy League College. By the time I was in my early twenties I'd be finished school. I'd start work right away, find a nice apartment to rent. I'd move on from Sam, finding a nice boy who could deal with all of this. We'd date for a year or two and he'd pop the question where we had our first date. We'd move to this beautiful house in the suburbs, and raise two kids. Then I'd grow old and die peacefully in my sleep.

But this whole month had me questioning how much I wanted it. My life plan had seemed so flawless, so… perfect for me. But there were no friends. No Mikaela, dad or Sam. It seemed lonely. And I knew someone was bound to come along and sweep me off my feet, but what would I do until then?

I craved an adventure like no other. Maybe that was why I wanted to find out more about all this alien stuff. I wanted to do something with my life. Do something that would be remembered by many. So maybe I didn't know what it was yet, or what my role was. But I had to take a leap of faith. This was how all the heroes did it; they took a leap of faith.

"I'll help you." I said. "But I think I'd like to know the name of the people I'm helping."

The taller one smiled down at me. "I'd like to thank you. I know this might be dangerous, but I know we will persevere. My name is Speedstrike. That is the Autobot Pretender. He can take the form of an ordinary human. Designation: Springer, otherwise know as Springs."

I looked at Springs. With his chrome colored body, I find it hard to believe that he can be a human. Before I can even react, a red light scans my body. Up and down, left to right. I saw that the red light was coming from his eyes, which gave me an eerie feeling. He smiled at me before his body started to move. And when I mean move, I mean he started to transform. I watched in fascination as he turned into me.

My mouth had hung open. It looked exactly like me. The straightened, dark hair, the mud brown eyes, my tall frame and tanned skin. It didn't even seem possible. "That's insane," I commented. Springs smirked before shifting back into himself.

Looking at the Autobot, I found it hard to believe that he'd just looked like me just a second ago. He was about my height. There were tiny cannons that decorated his arms which I was sure packed quite a punch. On his chest he wore this robot face, like the one on my hand. But the weirdest of all was perhaps the springs on the bottoms of his feet. Maybe that's where he got the name Springer.

"And that is Techno. He doesn't talk much. But as your human saying goes, actions speak louder than words. He is quite young, but he has the bravest heart I know." said Speedstrike.

I noticed the little guy was sitting on the ground. Had he been there the whole time? It was hard to remember. I remember noticing him before, but I would've overlooked the guy completely if Speedstrike hadn't introduced him.

I had to say, he looked adorable, for a robotic alien. The little Autobot had wires on the outside of himself. All of a sudden, they all lit up, making a humming sound before growing dark again. I had no doubt that those wires were electric. _Not to self: Don't try to pinch _those_ cheeks. _

Smiling, I figured it was time to introduce myself. "I'm Minnie. Minnie Banes. It's very nice to meet all of you. And I'd love to stay and chat, but I think it's midnight and I have a feeling that I'm already in trouble for staying out this late. If we're going to find this All Spark we should start right away. We'll leave tomorrow at one. That'll give you guys enough time to get proper disguises. You can't just parade around the streets like that and expect not to get noticed. I'll have all my stuff ready, and we'll be on our way."

That seemed like a good idea for everybody. Speedstrike offered to walk me home, but I quickly turned down the offer. He'd already been seen by one human (not including me), there was no reason for him to be seen by another. I could tell he was troubled by the idea of me walking home alone in the middle of the night, but it wasn't like I was going to get attacked by one of those bad guys (Decepticons, I think).

This was the end of the beginning. This was where my life started. Where my adventure started. My leap of faith. I'd just hoped that my leap of faith didn't end up being the beginning of the end.


	7. Chapter 6: Long Drive

Sam Witwicky.

If I asked the kids at my school who Sam Witwicky, I think most of them would say something along the lines of, "Who?" His beautiful eyes which were a combination of the dark green and brown and regular brown hair were average. He was cute, I couldn't deny that, but nothing like tan, male model. He just was. Which led me to wonder why I liked him so much.

Maybe it was because he was funny. Or perhaps it was because he was the only guy I'd ever met who I could actually have a conversation with. Although, even that didn't last too long. As soon as he found out that Mikaela and I were twins, it all went down hill. He kept dropping hints that he wanted me to set him up with Mikaela.

Of course, me being me, I ignored them all. If he wanted to get with my sister he'd have to grow some balls and ask her himself. And it didn't exactly help that I had the hugest crush on him.

It was the fourth grade. I don't exactly remember when it happened, but I remember his goofy smile and childish antics. And since he was practically the only one who talked to me, I developed a crush on him.

Sam wasn't my only crush (That'd be pretty pathetic). No, he was just the crush that I kept going back to. When I realized I never really had a chance with anyone else, I floated back to Sam (not that I really had a chance with him either).

Since yesterday, when I'd met Techno, Speedstrike and Springs I'd been thinking about all the things I could miss (Junior Prom [I never really went to social events, but this was one thing that I'd always looked forward to]. My first, high school football game. Maybe even get invited to a party). And when I was thinking, I thought of Sam.

I knew I had to go see him.

So after packing, I took the bus as always. I found myself thinking about how much I was actually going miss this place. It was my home. The only place I'd ever really known. But at the same time I wanted to go.

Getting off the bus, I started walking to Sam's. I'd been there a couple of times to help with his English essays. His mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies.

Turning a few streets, I finally got to his house. He was outside, washing his new car. I have to say, it was pretty sick. It was 1977 Chevy Camaro Z28, if I wasn't mistaken. Mikaela might've known a thing or two about fixing cars, but I knew a thing or two about identifying them.

I was about to go up to Sam but something stopped me. Sam and I weren't even friends. The only reason why he even put up with me was because Mikaela was my twin. But it was time for me to leave the poor kid alone. I prevented him from being with Mikaela. Who knew? Maybe they would work out, but we wouldn't know 'cause I was just the road block in his way.

It was time for me to find real friends. Yeah, I'd probably like Sam for a while. God knows that I fell for him really hard, but I guess we weren't meant to be.

With one last look at Sam, I turned around, leaving the street.

* * *

I'd finished packing all of my stuff. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit all of my stuff into my duffel bag, so I had to stuff it all in my backpack. I'd packed almost everything I had. My clothes, a bikini, shoes, jewellery, pictures, extra hair ties, my camera, my swiss army knife (which my dad insisted I carry with me all the time) toothbrush, toothpaste and some floss. So, basically all the necessities.

I told Mikaela and dad that I was going to Aunt Caroline's. She lives closest to the school where the program was taking place, so it seemed like a good lie. I then called Aunt Caroline and told her I was staying in L.A. I told her I wasn't ready to be so far away from home. Now, all I could do was cross my fingers and hope that none them decided to call each other.

My goodbyes were made yesterday after supper. Dad had wished me good luck and so did Mikaela. It wasn't exactly the reaction I was hoping for, but I guess you can't get everything you wish for. By the time it was half past twelve, I was already out the door and on my way to the junkyard.

When I got to the junkyard it was ten to twelve. I still had a few minutes to think things through. There was no turning back now. This was it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a huge revving sound. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head when I saw what car was making that noise. A black and blue Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 raced down the junkyard, leaving a cloud of dust behind it, stopping right in front of me. I thought I was going to die.

The passenger side door opened and the person who came out was just as hot as the car (yes, cars can be hot). His tanned skin made him look like he was of Latin descent. He had dark chocolate colored hair and matching eyes. He was perfect… until he spoke.

"Are you gonna stare at me all day? Get in the car!" I recognized that condescending tone anywhere. Frowning, I picked up my bags, walking over to the trunk.

I put my things in the trunk angrily, blushing madly. I couldn't believe I thought those embarrassing things about Springs. And to make it ten times worse, he caught me staring at him. I was practically eye-raping him! _Nice going, Minnie!_ I thought to myself.

Opening the door, I got inside. I avoided Springs' gaze, looking anywhere but him. The car was freaking amazing. I ran my hand over the steering wheel and the dashboard, earning a vibration coming from the car. The vibration sent shiver down my back.

Just as I was about to touch the key, a seatbelt fastened itself over me. A wave of confusion went over me as I held the seatbelt. I wasn't even given as much as warning when the car lurched forward driving off. I think I almost lost it when the steering wheel was moving itself.

"Speedstrike?" I whispered. The only logical explanation is that somehow this car was alive. It sounded insane, but after what I've seen in the past few days, I'm ready to believe just about anything.

"Hello, Minnie." came his voice from the speakers. I clawed my cheeks, trying to wrap my head around everything._ It's my fault. I signed up for this weirdness._

_Okay, so Speedstrike can "transform" into a car and Springs could turn into a…_ I looked at Springs. It couldn't have been possible. He looked so… handsome. He turned his head towards me and I turned away quickly, blushing again. _He can turn into… that, _ I thought to myself.

"See something you like?" teased Springs, smiling slyly.

I glared at him, but I don't think it had its desired effect, considering I was almost as red as a tomato. Since I couldn't think of anything else to say, I muttered, "Shut up." Stupid, annoying robot. "I was just wondering if you're there and Speedstrike's the car then where's T-" my explanation was cut short when Techno transformed right in front of me, making me scream at the top of my lungs.

"Oh my fu - Oh my God! What the hell is you're problem?" I shouted. I put a hand over my heart. "Trying to give me freaking heart attack," I started to calm down, which wasn't exactly easy with Springs basically laughing in my ear.

Techno gave me an innocent smile before transforming into a boom box. I couldn't even believe I hadn't seen him there. Picking him, I put him on my lap. It was a bit hard to stay mad at him; he was too cute.

Speedstrike didn't really laugh, but the back of my chair vibrated again. I guess he was trying to comfort me. I'm not going to lie, I liked it. I thought it was nice of him. I'd have to thank him later for it. Leaning against the window, I could just feel like this was going to be a long ride.

* * *

I was right.

It was probably the longest car ride I'd ever been in. To be honest, I didn't even know where we were going. Somewhere towards Las Vegas, I think. I only had the signs to go on. I was too afraid to ask Speedstrike because, honestly, I didn't think he knew where we were going either.

At first travelling with Techno, Speedstrike and Springer sounded like fun. I don't know. I suppose I expected thwarting evil master minds, running away from giant boulders, kung fu or something. No, you want to know what I got?

I got, Springs belting out the lyrics to almost every Black Eyed Peas song there was. And sometimes he did it in Spanish. And if it wasn't Black Eyed Peas it was some rap song. Every time I sang along or even mouthed the lyrics he gave me a look that said, _No. Just don't._ Speedstrike didn't talk at all. Trust me, I tried. I don't know if I did something wrong, but if he wasn't talking to me, I wasn't talking to him either. And Techno just stayed as a boom box. He didn't do anything. Nothing.

We stopped once to get something to eat at MacDonald's, and let me tell you, that did not go well. Speedstrike wanted to come with us, and he almost transformed with us inside of him. That was scary as hell. So, Springs, Techno and I went to MacDonald's. I got a lot of strange looks because I was carrying a boom box. Like it was _illegal_ or something. So the rest of the time spent at MacDonald's was spent with Springs looking up songs in his head ('cause he can surf the internet in his head), waitress' flirting with Springs and everybody else (waitress' included. Must've thought I was Springs' girlfriend) giving me dirty looks.

When we got back to the car, it was just as awkward as it was before. It was like everybody was playing _Ignore the Human_. Springs had used the excuse of fixing some comm. link or whatever. For all I knew that was made up.

That was four hours ago. I had reserved to leaning my head against the window, but even that couldn't take my mind off the problem I had now. I needed to pee, really bad. I thought about telling Speedstrike but he hadn't been talking to me and there was no way in hell I was telling Springs.

So I resorted to moving my legs, trying to think about anything but going to the bathroom. I made the All Spark shard into a necklace out of a long, thin piece of rope I found in my pocket. I placed it around my neck. Now, I wouldn't lose it.

We'd been on the road for a few more minutes when we pulled up to a gas station. _Why are we stopping here?_ I questioned internally.

"You've been tapping your legs for an hour. I had Springs search the internet and he suggested that we stop at a fuelling station so you could…" Speedstrike cleared his throat. "relieve yourself." I couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed.

Looking outside the window, I asked, "How, um… how did you know that I - um needed to, uh…?"

"Comm. link," replied Springs. "You're tapping was annoying me. So, after I fixed the comm. link I told Speedstrike. We can communicate through it without actually speaking." he explained. "Well what are you waiting for? Go."

He didn't need to tell me twice. I went to open the door, but Speedstrike beat me to it. I all but ran to the gas station. Stepping inside, I found there was practically no one here. I counted five people. I asked the cashier where the bathroom was and she pointed to the far left corner.

Speed walking to the bathroom, I thought I died and went to heaven when I saw that the bathroom was clean. After relieving myself, I began to wash my hands.

"Hello," I jumped, looking to my right where the voice came from. _What is it with people scaring me today?_ I thought.

It was girl around my age. Maybe sixteen or seventeen. She was really pretty, with her heart shaped face, golden hair and soft, blue eyes. When she smiled it was like a flashlight being shined at you. I didn't know whether it was because I felt threatened chest-wise or if it was because I was meeting someone in a bathroom, but there was something about her that I didn't like.

Faking a smile, I said, "Hey,"

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I should probably stop talking," _Yeah, you probably should. But you won"t,_ I thought bitterly. "It's just that I'm from a really small town. I don' t really get to meet a whole lot of people, 'specially since I'm home schooled. My name's Lily,"

She flipped her straight, blond hair back, smiling to me. "Hi, I'm Minnie. Minnie Banes. Nice to meet you,"

After drying my hands, I went to go shake her hand. For a small girl, she had a pretty strong grip. Taking my hand back, I started to rub it. "Strong grip," I stated.

"Sorry. My daddy always said to use a strong grip so the person can't run away," I laughed at the joke. "That's a nice necklace. Where'd you get it? I'd really like one like that."

Looking down, I saw that my necklace was hanging over my yellow sweater. I quickly tucked it inside my sweater. "Oh, um my grandmother made it for me as a birthday present last year."

"Can I see it. I'm a bit of a jewellery freak. I'd really like to get a good look at it,"

I tried to think of another excuse. "Oh, um my grandmother gave this to me before she died. It's basically the only thing I have left of her so it has a lot of sentimental value. Sorry,"

"I just want to see it. I promise I won't break it,"

Now this girl was getting on my nerves. Like, who did she think she was? She came into the bathroom practically forcing me to make conversation. Lady, I don't know you. "I think I'm going to go. My drive's probably waiting for me."

Moving past her, I reached for the door. Right as I was about to leave, I felt something wrap around my neck and slam me against the wall. My hands automatically went to my neck, trying to pry off whatever was on my neck.

My eyes widened when I saw Lily's wicked grin. "My daddy always said to use a strong grip so the person can't run away," she repeated, squeezing neck even tighter. "My daddy's dead now. Autobots killed him. And I'm going to avenge him."

I couldn't breathe and I knew if I didn't do something quick I'd die."When I felt the energy of that shard, I knew that the Cube was here on this God forsaken rock. And I already know where it is. When I get to the Boulder, I'll have the Cube in my hands. Megatron will reward me well. Then you and your precious Autobots will _die_."

Reaching inside my left pocket, all that was inside was lint and pennies. Stretching my fingers, I knew that I had a swiss army knife in my right pocket. I got out my swiss army knife. Flicking the knife part open, I got a strong grip on it. I took it and stabbed Lily in the eye.

She wailed, letting me go. I gasped for air, desperately trying to fill my lungs. Opening the door, I ran out of the bathroom, leaving a screeching Lily. I knew there was no way I could make it out of the front door, with Lily on my trail. She wouldn't expect me to go through the back.

I ran outside, looking back to see if Lily was after me. She limped out of the bathroom just as I closed the back door. I leaned against the door, closing my eyes, trying to calm my heart beat. When I opened my eyes again, my spirit almost shattered.

My jaw almost dropped open when I saw the fifteen foot robot in front of me. The raven colored robot made my hands start shaking. I knew it wasn't Speedstrike. No, he looked nothing like Speedstrike whatsoever. When he activated his cannons, I felt like I was about to cry.

I didn't waste anytime. Pushing my legs harder than they've ever been pushed before, I ran for my life. I screamed when the canon almost hit me. My heart almost burst out of my chest when I heard the revving of a car. I saw Speedstrike heading towards me. What the hell was he _doing_? He was supposed to go _around_ me, not _through_ me!

Screaming, I ducked, covering my head with my arms. I watched as Speedstrike transformed right in front of me, jumping before he could hit me. He leaped on top of the other Cybertronian, knocking him to the ground.

I was so captivated in watching the two robots fight that I didn't even notice Lily till she pulled me by my hair. Yelling, I tried to pull her mechanical hands from my hair before she ripped it off. She pulled me down to the ground, falling with me. We rolled around a couple of times.

"Give it to me! Give me the shard!" she shrieked, clawing at me. I did everything I could to keep her away from me, but it was pretty hard, considering she was stronger, faster and older than I was. I could feel her claws sinking into my arms, as she tried to rip the necklace from me.

I was literally fighting for my life. I never actually thought something like that would ever happen to me, but there I was, tumbling on the concrete with an alien. She was winning, I could feel it. My arms were getting tired and my fingers were stinging, red with blood. I don't know what would've happened if I wasn't saved right then.

Lily was attacked by Springs. He'd changed back into his original form, firing his mini cannons at her. I saw this as a chance to run away. Where I was running, I had no clue, but I had to get away from that psycho bitch.

Springs and Techno (who joined the fight a minute ago) did their best to hold her back (Techno kept electrifying her), but she was determined. "You're freakishly tall. Use that to your advantage. Run!"

I didn't exactly have time to act insulted. "I am running!" I retorted angrily.

Me being me, found the only thing in miles to trip on. Spiralling to the ground, I knew this was it. It was over. I was dead. Covering my face with one arm, I waited for Lily to pounce on me. When she hadn't yet pounced on me, I moved my arm away from my face.

Lily's head was lying on the ground, separated from her body. The wires that had been ripped apart were sparking. My swiss army knife was still stuck in her eye. Bending down, I pulled my knife out.

A few feet away the other robot Speedstrike was battling went down, went Speedstrike shot his cannon at him. I slowly made my way back to him and the others.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Decepticons," he replied. "When you picked up that shard it alerted every Cybertronian in a possible forty mile radius. They must've been following us since we left Los Angeles."

That disturbed me. These were the first, but they most certainly wouldn't be the last. And apparently they'd been following us since L.A. and we didn't even notice. If that was the case, what else was following us?

* * *

It'd been a while since the whole gas station incident. I'd explained the whole thing to the others. Springs seemed amused when I told him that I'd stuck a knife in her eye. Speedstrike told me that he heard my scream and he came racing.

"You're kind of like my knight in shining armour, aren't you?" I teased.

Speedstrike didn't understand the reference. That made it even funnier.

This time everyone seemed to talk to one another. Springs helped clean my wounds and wrapped them up. It was nothing too serious. Lily the Bitch clawed my arms a lot though and it hurt to move them. My fingers were in pain too, considering I was using them to try and get her off me.

"I think I know where the Cube is. Lily, or whoever she is, said something about it being at some Boulder."

"A Boulder?" demanded Springs. I already knew that he was searching the internet. "Hoover Dam in a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border of the US states of Nevada and Arizona. Once known as _Boulder_ Dam."

_Hoover Dam? I guess that's as good of place as any to hide a giant cube. _I thought. We conversed about our plan for tomorrow. We'd arrive in Las Vegas tomorrow and try to infiltrate the Dam. _Finally,_ I thought._ Some adventure_.

Soon, Techno and Springs fell into what was called stasis mode. It was basically sleeping but for Cybertronians. Our two species seemed so alike but so different at the same time.

Speedstrike had parked at the nearest Wal-Mart parking lot. He fell into stasis mode as well, but I couldn't sleep. Maybe it was because I was attacked by a robot. A _living _robot. I still had to wrap my head around the whole alien thing.

"Minnie?" asked Speedstrike. I guess he wasn't in stasis mode

"Hey," I replied.

"Are you not tired?" questioned Speedstrike.

I chuckled a bit. "Are you kidding? I'm exhausted. It's been the longest day of my life." We both fell into a long silence. "What've you been thinking about? I mean, you haven't talked to me in a while, so I assume you've been thinking about something important." I couldn't help the bitterness that showed in my voice.

"I apologize if I've offended you, Minnie. That was never my intention. I was just thinking of home."

I nodded in understanding. "I guess that makes the both of us." I commented. "You know if you ever need someone to explain some earth phrases or human habits you can always ask me. Or if you just want to talk, I've been told that I'm a good listener."

Yawning, I curled up against the window. "Thank you," said Speedstrike. "And Minnie?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever need to go to relieve yourself you can always ask me." I blushed. I didn't know that Speedstrike was capable of joking. "And you can call me Speed, if you'd like."

"Goodnight, Speed."

"Goodnight, Minnie."


	8. Chapter 7: Matter of National Security

**A/N: Hey! Missy here! We're almost at Hoover Dam. I'm still trying to decide whether I want these three to meet up with the rest of the Autobots yet, though. What do you think? Leave me a review telling me what you think. I'd love to hear your suggestions. And a huge thanks to AndromedaAI for the name Speedstrike. I think it suits him, too!**

He was cute.

Oh my God, was he cute! That might have been the understatement of the year. The way his smile practically melted my insides wasn't normal. My hands just itched to touch his raven colored hair. Oh, but his eyes! His eyes! Those were the best part, if I do say so myself. They were almost a dark blue, like a light Indigo. But, I swear, I could've gotten lost in those eyes for years.

Like I said before, he was cute.

Maybe that's the reason I screamed and nearly attacked him (Well, when I say "attacked him" I mean "ran away screaming"). I mean, first of all there was a cute stranger in my bed. Second of all, I didn't even know who's bed I was on! Third, it was in the morning. Act first, think later. Because, honestly, I didn't feel like dying that day.

"Minnie, calm down," the stranger had said.

I knew that voice. It'd be almost completely stupid of me not to know who that was. "Speedstrike?" I questioned. The stranger nodded slowly, as if he was explaining something to an eight year old. I started to stumble on my words. I mean, what was I supposed to do?

"Okay, so first you're an alien robot from out of space. Then I find out that you can be a car, and now you're…" I stopped myself from saying the word attractive. "You're human! Is this even possible? Am I dreaming? Oh my God, somebody pinch me."

I cried out in protest when I felt some pain on my left arm. Turning, I saw perhaps the one person (or should I say robot?) I really didn't care to talk to at the moment. "That was a figure of speech." I informed him.

"Oh, I know."

I glared at him. Who knew somebody as annoying as he could be part of the same species as Speedstrike? They were polar opposites.

"I told you the _chica_ would freak out," Springs told Speed, like I wasn't standing just three feet behind them. Not only was he annoying, but he was rude. What a nice combination! "Well, at least she finally woke up. I mean, she's been out for a while now."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? "What do you mean I've been out for a while now? What happened to me?"

"Techno accidentally shocked you. The level of voltage is meant for Cybertronians. It rendered you unconscious and I've tended to your wounds for three days." Speed explained, trying to jog my memory. "You really don't remember?" I shook my head.

Springs chose this moment to cut in. "Man, you wouldn't believe the cover story we had to make up in order for the front desk to let us in! We were looking real _sospechoso_. Luckily, your good friend Springs here is a mastermind."

"Mmhmm," I mumbled sarcastically. "Where exactly are we, anyways?" I demanded.

It looked like we were in some sort of hotel room. Must've been expensive by the looks of it. The bed sheets looked like they were made with silk. The curtains seemed like it was carefully hand-woven. We must have been in a suite.

"We're at the Blue Dragon hotel and casino. It seemed like a good place to stop. It's only about thirty-three minutes away from Boulder City." Speed answered.

_The Blue Dragon?_ I'd heard of the place before. It's one of those "hot spots" that all the celebrities visit in Las Vegas. I also heard that it was extremely expensive, so how they even got the money to get in this place was beyond me. Well, I suppose if they could learn English by using the internet, who knew what else they could do?

But this could've been my last time being in a casino. I mean, granted, I had no clue how to play poker, blackjack and other games that involve gambling, but that didn't mean I couldn't go explore. After all, we were in Vegas. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

"So how long does this "holoform" last exactly?" I questioned.

Speed replied, "I can keep a holoform up for up to five days, before it must be deactivated and recharged."

He'd been trying to explain Cybertronians to me for the past two hours. It's a good thing he was patient, because I'd bombarded him with a million questions. Our latest subject was holoforms and I'd found out quite a bit about them, but my head was still reeling with the new information.

Techno, apparently, had been in the room the whole time. He apologized by handing me a structure of wires, gears and bolts. I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, but I smiled and thanked him. I'd always wondered why he never talked. Must've been some Cybertronian thing.

We'd gone downstairs to the casino, but unfortunately I wasn't allowed to play. First of all, I didn't have the money for chips and secondly, I wasn't old enough. So, Speed offered to help me learn somethings about his race.

"Oh my God, my head is practically exploding with information! There's so much to learn! I think I need a drink, before we head into the topic of your reproductive cycles. I'm getting water, want anything?" He shook his head no. "Techno?" He made some whirring sound and shook his head. I took that as a no. "'Kay, I'll be back in a sec."

I left the room, trying to remember which way the elevator was. Taking a left, I decided that if I got lost then it wouldn't exactly be the end of the world. After roaming the halls for a while, I finally found the elevator.

It was made of glass. Almost pod-like. You could see the hotel from above. I thought it was pretty cool.

Stepping inside, I pressed the button labeled G. I stared at myself in the glass, trying to fix anything that was out of place. My hair was splayed out. I'd decided to straighten it. I had also settled on wearing my black jeggings with a strapless, bright, yellow t-shirt that came up just below my belly button.

When the elevator reached the ground level, I headed over to the little café/restaurant in the far corner. Nobody often went there; they opted for the four star restaurant over in the other corner. But I liked it here better; the water cost less.

"Can I get some water, please?" I asked the cashier. She nodded and reached into the fridge, giving me some ice, cold water. "Thanks," I said, giving her the money to pay. The woman smiled politely, telling me to have a nice day. I replied with a, "You too!"

Turning around, I was caught off guard as I ran into somebody. We exchanged apologies, until I got a good look at him. He looked a little old, maybe late thirties, early forties. He had blonde hair and green eyes. He had a… _Men in Black_ sort approach to him. Maybe it was because he was wearing a suit.

"Ah… Minnie Banes, just the girl I was looking for."

I wasn't going to lie, I found that quite creepy. It wasn't like I knew the guy. In fact, I was pretty sure I'd never seen him in my entire life.

I let out a nervous, creeped-out laugh. "I'm sorry," I began. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'm not that good at introductions. My name's Daniel Johnston. I'm part of the government. Sector Seven, to be exact," He took out his wallet and flipped it open. When I tried to look closer and see what was really imprinted on the card, he shut it in my face, putting it in his pocket. If I wasn't annoyed before, I was now.

"Never heard of it,"

"Never will." he retorted curtly, making me frown.

He smiled, giving me the chills. "A few days ago, we received a call from a local gas station, saying that there was a disturbance at 9:15 p.m. When we checked the security cameras, all we see is you, who is supposed to be in New York for some prestigious learning program,"

"So me not going to New York is a matter of National Security? Wow. I think you guys need to learn how to sort out your priorities. Now, if you'll excuse me," I said, trying to sidestep him, but he sidestepped with me.

His once easy-going expression turned serious. "Stop playing games and listen up. I don't know if you're playing hitchhiker or what, but you're interfering with something that's out of your world. With something that doesn't concern you. With extraterrestrials."

"Okay," I started, trying to play it cool. My heart was thumping so loud that I felt as if it was going to break out of my chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about. All I'm doing is taking a road-trip and now I'm being threatened by a rent-a-cop who, for all I know, belongs to an organization that doesn't exist and doesn't know the meaning of the phrases 'personal space' and 'I have rights',"

Johnston took my arm, holding it roughly. He had something in his other hand that I didn't notice before. Maybe a type of scanner. He took it, pointing it to some random woman who'd just walked by. "This'll prove if you've been in contact with extraterrestrials or not," The woman had given off a low reading on the scanner. Next, he scanned me. The scanner started rapidly beeping. "Twenty-five rads, you're coming with me."

He started pulling me off somewhere, and I began to protest. Oh, where were the Autonomous robotic organisms when you needed them. I tried to shout; trying to cause a scene, but Johnston put his hand over my mouth. My head was going a million miles per hour, and my heart was beating almost a hundred times faster than normal. I knew I had to do something, and do it fast.

I stepped on his toe, hard. Of course, It would've worked better if I'd chosen to wear those heels this morning, but it worked nonetheless. I then, elbowed his stomach roughly, hoping I left a dent. After he let go of me, I turned around, kicking him in the place where the sun definitely didn't shine (if you know what I mean).

Next, I ran. _Oh my God, I didn't actually think that'd work. Thank you Miss Congeniality 2!_ I thought to myself. I turned a corner, heading to the escalators. I knew that Springs would be at the Casino, no doubt. I had to warn him.

I ran past the bodyguards, ignoring their protests. My eyes quickly searched the area, trying to locate Springs. I found him at the Blackjack table, making the whole table laugh. Rolling my eyes, I made my way towards him hastily.

"Springs!" I whispered urgently at him.

When he saw me he rolled his eyes, going back to his game. "Aren't you supposed to be… I don't know, anywhere _but_ here?"

I grabbed the collar of his shirt, spinning him towards me. "Listen, this isn't a game. The government's here, and they're looking for all of us. We need to get out of here, now! Do you hear me? Now!" I said, making sure only he could hear me and not everybody else.

Springs nodded, leaving the table. We started running back towards the escalators, but saw Johnston ascending, his face blood-red. I skidded to a stop, pulling him with me. "Government agents are crawling all over this place," I explained to him. "You need to go up to the room and warn Speed and Techno. I'll lead this Johnston guy away from you and I'll meet you back at the room, okay?" He nodded. "Go!"

He ran away from me, using the Casino's East Entrance. The one that lead to the four star restaurant. I looked back to the North Entrance, where the escalators where, and saw Johnston glaring pitchforks at me. I took that as an opportunity to get the hell out of there.

My feet stumbled as I pushed through adults. Most of them said some pretty nasty things and gave me some dirty looks. I saw the head of security coming towards me, probably to escort me out for, one, being underage, and two, running in a casino.

Jumping over a poker table, I doubled back, heading back to the North Entrance. As I ran right through the bodyguards guarding the North Entrance, I turned back to see that Johnston was hot on my trail.

I made my way all the way to the elevators. I pressed the button for the elevators repeatedly. Looking at the glass tube where the elevators travelled, I saw that the elevators were still up at the top. There wasn't enough time for me to wait for them to come down.

My eyes scanned the area rapidly. A sigh of relief escaped my lips, when I saw the stairs. I made a mad dash for them, pushing through the doors, and closing them.

_Ugh, what floor is the room in? Seventh or Eighth? Seventh!_ I remembered. As I started running up the stairs as fast as I could, I began to think how lucky I was not to where my heels. When I was at the beginning of the second floor, I heard Johnston crashing through the doors. I urged myself to keep going faster.

_I'm going to die!_ I thought as I went up the stairs to the fifth floor. I couldn't even believe I made it this far. It was probably ten percent because I played baseball and ninety percent because of the adrenaline pumping through my system. I was surprised I didn't cramp up yet; 'cause knowing me, something bad was bound to happen.

I burst through the doors of the seventh floor. Panting, I put my hands on my knees, trying to get some air to my lungs. _First things first, when you get back to L.A., you're joining a gym,_ I told myself. The way I was heavily breathing was not healthy.

_Crap!_ I'd forgotten the room number. _What am I going to do?_ I didn't have time to think at the moment, because I could still hear Johnston making his up the stairs. I ran to the left. I'd have to find it eventually, right?

Every door looked exactly the same as the one before. The numbers soon began to look the same after a while and they started to become mixed up in my head. Breathing in deeply, I ran my hands through my hair. _Okay, breathe,_ I told myself. _Just think of the room number. Think!_

Taking a right, I saw the room number 804. This must've been it. A light bulb had practically lit up in my head when I saw the number so I decided to go with the flow. Running to the room, I began to bang on the door.

"Speedstrike, let me in!" I yelled, knocking on the door. If they didn't open the door soon, that wannabe CIA agent was going to kill me. "Come on, guys, this isn't funny! Open the door!" I knocked on the door again. "Guys, open the door!"

I heard Johnston's footsteps getting closer and my heart beating louder. My fist slammed against the door. I swear, if I hit it any harder, I would've brought the door down. "Open this fucking door now!" I screamed, getting more worried by the second.

_What if they're gone?_ I thought. _What if they left me here? No! Speedstrike wouldn't leave me. But if it was to save the future of his race, why would he risk saving me?_

A loud "Hey!" cut of my train of thought. Pivoting, I saw the annoyed expression of Springs. "Wrong door, dumb ass!"

I was about to run over to him, but then I saw Johnston at the other end, all red-faced and green eyes full of determination. The door was closer to me, but he had more training than me. But, then again, I was younger and he was old. Who knew? Maybe he could've broken a hip while trying to sprint after me.

Springs couldn't exactly close the door. I had to get there, and I had to get there fast.

After having a stare down with Johnston for a few seconds, I dashed towards the door. The man was, surprisingly, really fast. Like, it shouldn't have been possible for a man of his age (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little) to move like that.

As, I got through the door, he made it in with me, tumbling to the floor. Unbeknownst to him, I had three robotic lifeforms waiting to back me up.

Springs moved behind me to lock the door. As Johnston picked himself of the floor, he saw that he was surrounded by me, Springs, Speed and Techno (who was still in his original form). He tried to make a run for it, but Speed got him in a headlock.

"Hmm," I murmured. "Big ol' agent doesn't exactly look scared."

"We have been warned of such situations when NBEs take the form of a human being. So, no, I'm not exactly "surprised"."

"NBEs? What are those?"

He sighed, as if speaking to a nine year old. "It's a non-biological extraterrestrial."

"Wouldn't that be NBETs, then?" I questioned.

Springs rolled his eyes, saying, "Don't answer that. Look man, why are you looking for us?" The man didn't answer him.

"Why aren't you answering his question?" I demanded.

"Look," the man started, "There are S7 protocols, okay? I'm not authorized to communicate with them except to tell them that I can't communicate with them. Besides, I don't associate myself with _your_ kind," he ended sharply.

Springs got an offended look of his face. "My _kind_. _My kind_? _Muchacho_, I know you did _not_ just say that. You better leave, _chica_, because some shit is about to go down!" I held Springs back. Okay, he was watching _way_ too much _Jersey Shore_.

"How do you know about the aliens?" I questioned, eyeing the man.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you."

This guy was put on this earth to piss people of wasn't he? "Take of his coat," I told Speed. He raised an eyebrow at me. "You heard me. I want his coat."

You can find out a lot about somebody while looking through their pockets. Speed handed me his coat, but still had him in a headlock. I knew that Speed couldn't exactly do anything to him. It was against the Autobot code/law/oath or whatever. I wondered if Johnston over there knew that.

Searching through his pockets, I found his wallet. "Daniel Johnston. Looks like you weren't lying about your name," Good. This meant if we asked him information, he would be less likely to lie. "Thirty? That's a lie," I scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not handsome enough to be thirty?"

I gave him a patronizing look and replied, "No."

Looking into his other pocket, I found something plastic. Picking it up, I saw that it was an EpiPen. Digging deeper into his pockets, I found a piece of paper, an information sheet that he'd filled out. Scanning it, I looked to see that he was allergic to peanuts. I turned back to Johnston, holding the EpiPen up. It looked like I'd found his weakness.

"What's that?" asked Speed.

I ran to the kitchen, opening up the fridge. There had to be something inside that had peanuts inside. Anything.

"It's an EpiPen," I explained to him. "It's a medication called epinephrine. When pressed against your body a small needle shoots out and injects the medicine. It's usually used for people with severe allergies, like one Mr. Johnston, and keeps them from going into Anaphylactic shock."

Grinning, I found a pack of nuts. Why they were in the fridge at all beats me? Were nuts even supposed to go in the fridge. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. This wasn't the time.

"It seems that I've found your kryptonite. Now, you're going to tell us, everything you know about Sector 7, and what you're hiding. Got it?"

Johnston started laughing. Anger rose in me when he laughed at me. "You want to fill me in on the joke? What's so funny?" I demanded.

He threw whatever he was holding on the floor. It was a square device with a red, blinking light that seemed to flash every second. "You really think that I'd just follow you into a room full of aliens on purpose? Oh no," He chuckled, dryly. "That sends out a signal. Any second now this room will be full of S7 agents."

If I had heat vision, I swear we would've been reduced to ashes. No, I didn't have heat vision, but I had the next best thing. I opened the nuts, spilling him everywhere. Speed let go of Johnston, letting him fall to the ground, gasping for air. I threw the EpiPen on the ground, while grabbing my backpack and duffel bag, I shouted, "We need to get out of here!"

Techno had transformed back into his boom box form and Speed picked him up. On my way out, I grabbed Johnston's wallet. I got out his Sector Seven Identification card. I knew I'd need it once we got to Hoover Dam.

We ran out of the room, opting for the stairs. We were going so fast, that I tripped once or twice. Luckily, I had the railing to hold on to, otherwise I would've went crashing down the stairs.

We raced down as fast as we could, running out of the Hotel and Casino. It was quite dark outside, maybe four in the morning. The night gave us perfect cover against the Sector Seven agents gathered around the Casino.

By luck, we made it back to the Bugatti (or should I say Speedstrike?). I put my stuff in the trunk. Once we got there, I knew there weren't enough seats. Springer turned down any option of me sitting on top of him. So, him and Speed switched seats and I had to sit on Speed's lap.

It was embarrassing to say the least. If I wasn't so red from all the running I'd done that day, I bet they would've seen my blushing face.

As we were driving away, my heart started to calm down. I don't think I'd ever done that much running in a _long_ time.

"Are you okay?" I asked Speed. He'd been silent for while.

"I shouldn't have done it," was all he said.

I was confused now. "Shouldn't have done what?"

"Harming a human. I shouldn't have condoned that. Even though that man hadn't shown many redeeming qualities in that room, he didn't deserve what had happened to him."

I should've expected as much. Speed seemed like one of those people who blamed themselves for everything that went wrong, even if it wasn't their fault.

"It's not your fault. All you did was put him in a headlock. Technically, you didn't _really_ harm anyone. Besides, if there's anyone to blame, it should be me. I was the one who spilled those nuts on the floor." I convinced him.

"Why did you?"

That question threw me off. I guess I really didn't think about. I remember being so _angry_. I felt as if I could rip his head right off his body. And that scared me. The fact that I could've killed somebody because of my sudden anger. "I don't know," I finally replied.

It was silent for a few minutes. Springs, who must've been listening to our conversation, tried to bring our spirits up. I guess it kind of worked because we all started talking about human customs. Well, more like Springs was insulting the human race while Speed was backing us up.

I pointed to the sign that said, _Welcome to Boulder City_. "We're almost there," I told them, butterflies entering my stomach.

"Yeah!" Springs fist pumped the air. His next statement made Speed and laugh. Techno even made a sound of, what I think was, joy. "Time to kick some serious Sector Seven ass!"

If only it'd been that simple.


	9. Chapter 8: Inside the Dam

"Do you really have to sneeze every five seconds?"

I scrunched my hand up into a fist. "Do you want to get your ass up here and crawl through this dust-infested tunnel? No? Didn't think so," I snapped.

I'd just about had it with Springs. It seemed the only thing he could do was antagonize me. Yeah, at first I didn't say anything, but that was only because I thought he'd shoot me down with those cannons attached to his arms. Now, I honestly didn't care.

Bringing my arm up to my sleeve, I sneezed again. I blinked my eyes as they became watery. Sighing, I continued my trek through the metal tunnel.

When we'd arrived to Hoover Dam, we found out that the visitor's centre wasn't open until 9:00. We couldn't afford to wait that long and there was no way we could break into the dam. Not if we wanted to get arrested. And that's how this idea was born.

And let me tell you right now, it's not a situation anyone would want to be in. First of all, it's illegal. Second, it's hot and cramped. I had to change into my black, long-sleeved shirt (the ends were wrapped around my hands) and jeans so I wouldn't burn my hands. And third, it's incredibly noisy. I almost got caught by the same security guard. Twice.

"Okay, stop." Springs ordered.

Looking down, I saw a metal grate. One that was just big enough the I could get through. This was the place where I'd be making my descent. I brought my eye down to look the slots, trying to make out any security guards. There were none that I could see. I guess I'd have to get down there pretty fast before any of the guards came around.

Sliding back a bit, I brought my foot down on the grate repeatedly. On the tenth try the grate clattered to the ground, the noise echoing through the hallway. I knew that somebody had to have heard that, so I quickly shimmied my way down.

I had a pretty hard time trying to get through the grate. My body wasn't as skinny as I'd hoped it'd be, so I literally had to shove myself through the grate. Embarrassing? Yeah, you could say that. At least there weren't any cute guys around. Or, God forbid, Springs, Speed and Techno.

Once my head was through the grate, the only parts of my body that weren't through the grate were my hands. They were holding my body up as I dangled from the air vent. The drop wasn't that far down, maybe a few feet. But I felt scared to let go.

My mind screamed don't let go, but my hands had come into contact with the vent and had started to burn. _On the count of three,_ I told myself. As I thought the number three, my hands let go of the vent and I tried to bend my knees so the fall wouldn't hurt so much.

Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned and I landed feet first. My legs gave away as a sharp pain filled my ankles. I started cursing and rubbing my ankles to try and make the pain go away.

"Minnie, are you okay?" Speed's voice came in through the bluetooth device I was wearing. It was laced with concern, which made me smile a little. It felt good to know that somebody actually cared about me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just fell."

Speed muttered an, "Okay," I could tell that he wasn't convinced at all. He probably would've said something else if it wasn't for the fact that we needed to get to the cube.

My hands reached out to the walls, trying to get a grip on them. Using the concrete structures, I got myself up. Much to my displeasure, every time I put some weight on my left ankle it hurt. Leave it to me to get hurt when I'm on a serious mission.

Looking around, I saw an elevator on the right. I limped over, pressing the button so it would open. I could hear approaching footsteps and I started to press the button again and again. Me pressing the button repeatedly probably didn't help at all, but I didn't care.

When the elevator doors opened it made a _ding_ sound. I quickly hobbled in, pressing the button that closed the doors. I leaned against the back of the elevator, wondering how I was going to get to the underground base.

There was no way I could keep going by the air vents. Not only were the scalding hot and cramped, but I could get stuck in one. And I really didn't think I could take that much humiliation.

I looked around the elevator. There had to be an indication on how to get to the underground base. I mean, obviously there wouldn't be a button that said _Press here for Secret Underground Base! _even though that'd make my job that much easier.

"Guys, how do I get to the base?" I asked, frustrated.

It'd been twenty seconds before I asked again. I wasn't in the mood for Springs' stupid games. "M - Minnie. You - " was the response I got. The rest was filled with static.

I began to panic. "Hello? Springs, I swear if you're playing with me…"

Speed wouldn't let him do that. Besides, this was serious; we had to get that All Spark. We didn't have time to play games.

_Maybe they found them,_ I thought, referring to Sector Seven. Though I didn't want to believe that, it was definitely possible. And it's been easy breaking into this place. Too easy. They probably knew we were coming and this was all a trap. For all we knew the All Spark wasn't even here.

I shook my head, refusing to believe that. _It's here,_ I thought firmly. It had to be, otherwise this would've all been for nothing.

And if I couldn't communicate with anybody, that'd mean I'd have to figure out how to get underground by myself.

Taking a look around the elevator again, I started drumming on my thighs. I was about to get out of the elevator when something caught my eye. It was a slot just above the open and close buttons. _Maybe…_ I thought to myself.

Reaching into one of my jean's back pocket, I smirked to myself. I still had Johnston's identification card. _Minnie, my friend, why are you so smart?_ I questioned.

I put Johnston's card in the slot, hoping that it'd work. My fingers drummed even faster when the slot swallowed Johnston's card and I began to have doubts. _What if it doesn't work?_ I asked myself. _Guess I'm screwed then._

A voice interrupted my thoughts.

"_Identification card, confirmed. Johnston, Daniel reporting._"

I spun around the lift, only to find out that it was just one of those robotic, female voices.

"_Please press the button._"

_Which one?_ I thought to myself. I couldn't believe how vague the voice was being. I also couldn't believe that I was referring to it like it was a real person. But then again, if you asked me months ago if I believed aliens were real - much less robotic ones - I would've told you that there was no such thing.

I gasped when a whirring noise echoed around the elevator. A hatch, just beneath the slot that'd ate the identification card, opened up. A blue button written, _S7_ was glowing, just waiting to be pushed. It seemed so simple. Just press the button, find the cube and get out.

I only hoped it was that simple.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the button. _There's no turning back now,_ I thought, waiting for something to happen. I let out a frustrated growl when nothing happened and started to press the button repeatedly.

_Come on! Why won't you - Ah!_

A strangled cry left my lips when the elevator jolted. I held on to the railing at the back when it started to descend quickly. My stomach churned, as if I was on a high-speed roller coaster complete with loop de loops. I put my hand to my abdominal region, trying not to make my self hurl. It probably looked like I was two months pregnant or something, you know, with the morning sickness and all.

My fist turned white as I clutched the railing tightly. I stumbled a bit when the elevator came to a complete stop. A jolt of pain shot through my ankle when I stumbled. _Such a klutz,_ I told myself.

The elevator spit out the identification card, waiting for me to take it out of the slot. I took it and placed it into my back pocket.

The lift made the same _ding_ sound that it made before and the doors opened. Limping towards the door, I poked my head through the space, trying to see if anyone was occupying the hallways. Fortunately for me, the halls were empty.

Something definitely wasn't right.

I got out, heading to my left. My heart was beating wildly against my chest.

_What's going to happen to me if I get caught?_ I frowned as that thought entered my mind. Breaking and entering is against the law. And if I wasn't mistaken, Nevada was one of the states where they still had Capital Punishment. I didn't want to die.

I guess I never really thought about the consequences. Hell, I never really thought about how I was going to get out once we found the cube. Or what would happen if I lost communication with the trio (Speed, Techno and Springs). Now that I really had some time to think about it, it was a terrible plan. They were relying on sixteen year old, teenage girl to help them get the only thing that could stop their war.

Well, no wonder Springs hated me. He didn't know me therefore he couldn't trust me. Why did they need me anyways? Other than my refreshing personality and my astounding crawling skills, I was pretty sure that I was almost completely useless.

And that was pretty hard to admit, even if it was only in my head.

Blowing a strand of my hair out of my face, I thought, _I don't have time to be worrying about this. Remember the plan. _

I was only supposed to get in, find out where the cube was located, then get back to the trio. So I guess I was sort scout. I mean, could imagine me getting the All Spark? That's like trusting a baby to watch over a snow globe. One that could end a war.

"Can you believe it?"

"No, I honestly never would've thought that we'd actually see another NBE."

_Shit!_ My brain was on the fritz, and I began to panic. I ran away from the voices, scared out of my mind. Searching frantically, my eyes fixed on a door. Running to it, my hands shook the doorknob, trying to get the door open. I almost screamed in frustration.

I saw another door on the opposite side and made a break for it. Luckily for me, the door wasn't locked. I quickly slipped through the door, careful not to shut it behind me, just in case it locked behind me.

A sigh of relief broke through my lips, as I spun around. The room was dark and the only source of light was the light outside the door that was streaming in through the cracks. When my eyes had finally adjusted to the lack of light, I saw that I was in a storage room.

There wasn't much inside. The room was so small, a Volkswagen beetle wouldn't inside. It was filled with hard hats and fluorescent vests. Various tools decorated the minuscule room.

I brought my arm to my nose, sneezing loudly. _Would it kill them to sweep this room once in a while?_ I thought bitterly as I sneezed again. But this was my chance. I could make it to wherever they stored the All Spark, looking like I actually worked here.

Picking one of the orange vests, I put it on. The vest almost reached the middle of my thighs, the shoulders practically slipping off my frame. I didn't feel the need to change, since I'd only be in this vest for - what I'd hoped would be - the shortest time possible.

After I'd placed a hard hat on my head firmly, I looked out the door again. This time, there were a few more people roaming the hallways. I'd have to time it right. Imagine how it would look like to see a sixteen year old girl wearing a vest that looks two sizes too big coming out of storage room for no apparent reason.

When the halls were remotely clear, I made my way out. I kept my head low, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Hey you!" I heard a voice shout.

Wiping the sweat off my palms and on to my vest, I could feel my heart beating at a hundred miles per hour. Turning around, I was met with the face of a woman.

She had a stern look on her face, which didn't look too flattering on her beautiful, native face. Her light, brown eyes held no emotion and her lips were in a straight line. Her pinstripe suit fit perfectly on her, accentuating her curves. To say that she didn't intimidate me would be a lie.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was sharp with a tone of authority. It was scary as hell and reduced me into a stuttering mess. "Well? Why aren't you at the base, working on construction? Honestly, do you see me slacking off on my job? God only knows this place would be a mess if I did. Come on. I need to head down as well. I'll accompany you."

By the time she finished her sentence, she was already at least four paces in front of me. I had to run a little to catch up with her, which made a pang of discomfort flow through me. I'd forgotten about my ankle.

We both took the stairs, going down a floor. The woman - who didn't tell me her name. Maybe she thought I already knew since I "worked" there - kept rambling about NBEs and things like that. It reminded me of the conversation I heard before I was forced to hide in that storage room.

Did they actually have aliens down here? Other Cybertronians? A thousand thoughts were speeding through my mind. What if they had Decepticons down here? What if they had other Autobots? There were too many questions, but I supposed I'd get the answers soon enough.

We finally got to the floor and my eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw _it_.

I didn't know what I was doing. All I knew was that I had to get closer to it. My feet moved like they had a mind of their own, gravitating towards the cube.

There it was in all its glory. I'd heard lots of stories about it from Speed, but it didn't seem real. But there it was, right in front of me. The symbols were identical to the ones on my shard. They were all so beautiful, as if an artist spent years delicately drawing the symbols.

It looked so old, so ancient… like time itself. The immensity of the object alone made me feel so out of place. Like I was whenever I was around the trio. So incredibly small, so… insignificant. No, it didn't feel real at all.

Without even thinking about it, I brought my hand up towards the cube. I heard protests behind me, screaming for me not to touch it, but I had to. I didn't know how to explain it, but I could hear it calling out. I could feel the shard vibrating vibrating against me, being pulled in by the All Spark. But it wasn't the only thing that was being pulled in. I was, too.

When my hand finally reached the cube, I felt a rush of energy circle me. My hand started to tremble, but I could feel it. I could feel the energy. I was able to see the life it was capable of giving, but the lives that'd been taken because of it.

Finally, my hand pulled away. The same hand that had the tattoo of the robot face.

I frowned. Something weird was happening to me and I wasn't sure whether it was good or not.

Turning around, I was met with a gun pointing at my head. When I saw who was holding the gun, I was a bit surprised… and little bit grossed out. Johnston stood there, frown on his face, but damn, did he look terrible. His blond hair looked greasy, like he'd been sweating _a lot_. His face was the worst part though. Because of his allergy, his face had broken out into hives.

He stood there with three other people, the native woman from earlier on and two other men. The only thing I could focus on was Johnston's face. How I'd done that to him.

I could never forget the way he said his next sentence. No he didn't sound angry or furious. He sounded accusing. But I knew he was mad inside, I could see it in his green eyes. And I think I would've preferred it if he'd showed it on the outside. If he'd yelled at me or something.

No, instead all I got was, "Nice to see you again, doll face." And I knew it was over. I'd been caught. And all I could think was, _Damn._

**A/N: Okay, I know it's a bit short, but I literally had no inspiration. And I felt like I had to give you guys another chapter. I know you waited for a long time. Anyways, I'm going to put a up a poll for whether you want Minnie & crew to meet with Sam & the Autobots or whether you want more adventures with her, Speed, Springs and Techno.**

**I think I already know what I want to do, but I'd really like to hear your opinions. I feel like if I have them meet up with Sam that nothing will happen until ROTF. And I already have something planned for the four of them if they go alone. I don't know. But vote!**

**Vote on the Poll!**

**And thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 9: Decisions, Decisions

Silence.

It's funny how you could be absolutely silent, yet the action itself could speak a thousand words.

Being silent was my forte. It was almost like a skill - no, a talent. I'd spent most of my years in school just being invisible. It was as if I had my own Invisibility cloak. Harry Potter himself didn't have anything on me. And sometimes that wasn't such a good thing, but in this particular situation I was glad of my years in seclusion.

"Do you want anything? Some donuts, coffee?"

The question was met with silence. I'd watched too many TV shows and movies to know not to take anything they offered you. Could be drugged or poisoned.

We were taking a walk around the base. And by _we_, I mean Johnston and I. At least it was someone who I had history with (not necessarily _good_ history, but history nonetheless). But I couldn't help the guilty feeling that surged through me when I saw his face.

"Look," the agent started. "I know that you don't want to talk to me, but you need to tell me everything you know about the NBEs."

_Over my dead body_, I wanted to say. People like him aren't open minded. If they knew anything about Cybertronians who's to say that they wouldn't try to kill them? Besides, I felt like Cybertronians were my secret. It was like I was the Pevensie family and the Cybertronians, Narnia. I didn't want to tell anyone about them.

"We know that there are many more NBEs than the ones you've travelled with. And maybe your's are nice, but these ones they've been hacking into the Pentagon. What would take a super computer at least twenty years, took them ten seconds. They're a threat to national security. People have _died_."

If he was trying to play the guilt card, it was working. He was talking about the Decepticons. They were looking for the Allspark and they'd do anything to get to it before the Autobots. Even killing us. And the Allspark was here. If they came here for it a lot of people would die.

Drumming my fingers on my thighs, I finally muttered, "Cybertronians."

"What?"

I sighed loudly, feeling my wall breaking. "They're called Cybertronians, not NBEs. And they _do _have names, you know." Through my peripheral vision, I could see Johnston looking at me incredulously. "They might not be humans, but they're not idiots. Like you said, they hacked into the Pentagon in ten seconds. The least you could do is show them a little respect."

He shook his head. "No wonder he likes you," he grumbled to himself.

I came to an abrupt stop, forcing Johnston to wonder what's wrong. I asked, "Who likes me?"

"You're not so little friend,"

_What? _I thought to myself._ Not so little… Speed?_ My body tensed up and my eyes narrowed slightly.

"How in the hell do you know him?" I questioned him. As he opened his mouth to talk, I interrupted, saying, "Cut the bullshit, Johnston. Where is he? Where are they?"

Johnston didn't respond and my heart started to beat faster. They had Techno, Springs and Speed. They had somewhere in this facility. What if they were hurting them? What if they were being tortured for information? My chest tightened at the thought.

"Take me to them. Take me to them _now_," I demanded.

His green eyes bore into mine as he said, "I'm not authorized to do that."

I could've lit him on fire. "You take me to them _now_ or there is no way in fucking _hell_ I'm giving _you_ or your fellow rent-a-cops _any_ information!" I screamed at him.

If looks could kill, Johnston would've already been six feet under. _I swear to God if they've done anything to them, there will be hell to pay. _I vowed.

So far, this mission was going terribly. We've all been caught and it hadn't even been two hours. But a lot could happen in less than two hours. And if what I thought was happening to the guys was real then we were all screwed. Who knew how long it'd take the Decepticons to get here? We needed that cube.

Johnston had finally gave in and started leading me towards the basement. I kept a sizeable distance between us, so I could make an easy getaway if it was a trap. I couldn't trust him. Because I knew that as soon as I let my guard down, he'd try to get revenge for what I did to him.

As we finally reached the basement, I was met with the same scene of hundred workers in fluorescent vests and hard hats buzzing around from place to place, operating machines, carrying blueprints and completing other various tasks.

There were things that I hadn't noticed before. Like how the ceiling wasn't finished and dozens of sprinklers were attached to it. How there were workers with white suits on, carrying bulky guns. It reminded me of a beehive.

The Allspark was still there, and I could feel it trying to pull the shard closer to it. The sheer size of the cube was astounding, practically taking my breath away. And I probably would've been put under its spell again, if it wasn't for the loud screeching noise.

Looking towards my left, I found that it wasn't just a noise. It was a scream.

I brought a hand towards my mouth when I watched the scene unfold. In a separate room, a fifteen foot tall robot was constrained with what looked like reinforced steel. And I watched as they sprayed him continuously with liquid nitrogen. He let out a cry of pain and that's when I lost it.

Without a second thought, I sprinted over to where Speed was being held, pressing the button that opened the gigantic door. I ran up to one of the workers, trying to grab the gun out of his hands. Once I did, I shoved the butt of the gun against his temple, making him crumple on the floor.

I looked over to the controls and ran to them, dropping the gun in the process. My fingers pressed the buttons, trying to find the one that would release him._ Come on!_ I yelled inside my head. My fingers were trembling as fear racked my body. I couldn't let him get hurt. I couldn't let him die.

A shriek flew out of my mouth as a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I struggled, kicking and screaming, curses flying out of my mouth. The person finally let go of me when elbowed him in the stomach.

As I was about to run back and help Speed again, two people came to my sides, holding me back, dragging me through the door. Tears were making their way down my cheeks as I fought to reach Speed.

"Speed!" I yelled.

He must have heard me because he looked down at me. His sad, blue eyes making me feel powerless. Completely useless. He was being tortured and I couldn't do anything. I could feel him begging me to do something, but I couldn't. I wasn't a wizard like Harry Potter. I couldn't fight like the Pevensie family.

I was normal. I was Minnie Banes and at that moment I don't think I could've hated myself more for it.

An electrical surge ran through Speed's metal exterior, making him cry out again.

"Stop it!" I screamed. "Stop it! Let him go!" The tears wouldn't stop falling, as the sobs wracked through my body. "Just let him go, please! I'll do anything, just let him go!"

I saw Johnston's eyes staring at me with pity. Like _I_ was the crazy one. They were the ones torturing him when he'd done nothing but protect the human race, to protect me. How could they stand there and just watch him scream and do nothing?

My eyes connected with Johnston. "Please let him go!" I begged. "You're hurting him! Please, I'm begging you! He won't hurt anyone, I promise!" All Johnston could do was watch me, as if he was having an internal battle. "I'll tell you everything I know if you just let him go. Please."

The agent left without saying another word. He walked up to the workers who were holding the liquid nitrogen guns. Johnston barked out an order making them stop whatever they were doing. He lifted some levers, releasing Speed from his bonds.

Seeing my chance, I tore away from the men who were holding me and I ran towards Speed.

Speed had slid a mask I never knew he had over his face, protecting himself. Only his bright, blue orbs were visible. In this light he looked… scary. The cannon on his left arm had been activated and two sharp blades grew out of right arm.

"Wait! Speed, please stop!" I yelled out to him, though I knew he wouldn't hurt them. He couldn't. He was an Autobot, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't destroy the place. "Speed, look at me!"

He made eye contact with me, his face full of anger and hurt. "They're not going to hurt you anymore," I said in my most comforting voice. "Look, I know they've hurt you. Trust me, I'm ready to kick someone in the face, but you're an Autobot and you guys would never hurt anyone. You're better than that. Listen to me." His face visibly softened. "They're not going to hurt you. I won't let them."

To my surprise, the sharp blades on his right arm retracted. His face mask was lifted up, but his cannon stayed activated.

I wiped the tears from my eyes, taking in a deep breath. My sobs had been reduced to sniffles, but I was glad that Speed was okay now.

"Where are Springs and Techno?" I asked him.

Speed looked at me and replied, "Safe." in a small voice. I could tell that he was still shaken up about the torture. I wondered if it was the first time something like that has happened to him. Just as I was about to ask him something, I heard a voice call out to me.

As I turned around, I saw Agent Johnston walking up to me. "I believe you owe me a few answers, Ms. Banes," he said.

I glared at him, outraged that he would even say something like that. "How _dare_ you?" I demanded. "You just tortured my friend. Do you really expect me to give you any answers?"

"With all due respect, Ms. Banes, but you did promise to tell us everything you know," Johnston reminded me.

I scowled at him, my blood boiling. I replied, "_Well_, Johnston, with all due respect - "

"Minnie," Speed interrupted us. "We owe it to him."

_We don't owe him anything!_ I thought angrily. But when I looked up at Speed, I knew that there was no place for arguing.

Looking back at Johnston I spat out a "fine" and gave him the biggest fake smile I could muster. "Lead the way," I said.

Johnston grinned at me, probably glad he was getting his way for once. But as soon as Johnston or any other one of his lackeys stepped even one toe out of line, that grin would be slapped off his face and Speed and I would be out of there.

Together, Speed and I followed Johnston out of the room. As we walked out, I caught the workers sneaking peeks at us. Speed pointed his cannons at them, quickly taking care of that problem.

"Minnie?"

I sighed out of annoyance. Who else wanted to ruin my day?

When I turned around, I swear, my body forgot how to breathe. I could have gotten lost in those dark brown/green eyes. And his curly brown hair seemed all too familiar. "Sam?" I questioned.

"Minnie!"

"Mikaela!" Sure enough, my fraternal twin stood there in all her glory. Even when she looked like she'd been dragged through a scorching desert, she still looked better than I did.

Before I could ask what they were doing here, another robot activated his cannon, pointing it at Speed. Speed retaliated by drawing his blades out of his arm. _What the hell is going on?_

"Hey, you!" I yelled at the yellow robot. He towered over me like King Kong, but he was shorter than Speed which brought me a little comfort. The Cybertronian looked down at me. "Would you stop pointing that thing! Someone's going to get hurt."

The yellow 'bot looked confused and worried. _He is a villain by the devil's law. He is a killer just for fun, fun, fun, fun,_ emitted from his radio system.

_Is that… is that Criminal by Brittany Spears? What does that have to do with anything?_

"Minnie, get away from him," Mikaela told me. Okay, now I really confused. I thought Speed said Autobots loved each other. Why was this one acting like he hated Speed with every finer of his being? "He's dangerous."

I scoffed, responding, "Oh yeah, he's _real_ dangerous. That's why he saved me."

"He's a Decepticon." Sam said.

I rolled my eyes. Figures. Every time something good happened to me there was always one person who had to go mess it up. "A Decepticon, Sam?" I asked condescendingly. "Are you fucking kidding me? If he was a Decepticon why would he have saved me? Why would he have asked a human, like me, for help? Huh, Sam? You know what? He can tell you himself. Go ahead, Speed, tell him."

I was met with silence. "Speed," I started. "Tell him."

My heart sped up when Speed didn't answer. I looked up at him, astonished. He was staring at Sam's robot, unmoving, reluctant to meet my eyes.

_This isn't true. He can't be._ I'd seen Decepticons. Hell, I was almost killed by Decepticons. They were terrifying, had red eyes and wouldn't even look twice at a human. If he was a Decepticon he wouldn't have seen me. He wouldn't have wanted me to come along. And even if he was a Decepticon, he would have told me. The Speed that I knew would've told me.

Then I realized that I didn't even know him. Who was the _real_ Speedstrike?

"Speed…" I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice. He lied to me.

"Minnie, come with us. He's dangerous, Minnie. He could hurt you." one of the soldier's told me. He had blond hair, blue eyes. One of his hands was outstretched.

I shook my head. "If he wanted to hurt me he would've done it already. In fact, he saved my life! He's done more for me than any of you!"

The African-American soldier snapped, "Why are you defending him?"

"Because he's given me more in less than a week than I've had in my entire life! He's been there for me when I needed him! And more than anything, he's my _friend_!"

Sam asked in a hurt voice, "I'm your friend!"

All those emotions that I'd kept bottled up inside just broke free. "Friends? Oh, so now I'm your friend, is it, Sam? Why didn't my so-called _friend_ invite me to go to that lake party with him? Why didn't my _friend_ introduce me to his parents as _friend _and not _classmate_? Why didn't my _friend_ talk to me when other girls were around? Oh please, Sam! You and I both know that I was _nothing_ but a stepping stone to Mikaela because you didn't have the balls to ask her out yourself!"

Sam shrunk back when I'd finished shouting at him, but Mikaela stepped and said, "Forget about Sam, Minnie. We didn't know where you were. Dad and I, we called Aunt Caroline and you weren't there. We want you to come home."

"If I go with you," I started, taking a pause. "will you let him go?"

Mikaela looked at Sam and the yellow Cybertronian. They exchanged looks and I knew what they meant. There was no way they were letting Speed go.

"Minnie… you know we can't do that." Mikaela said.

I had to choose. Go with Mikaela and Sam but have Speed get captured again. Or go with Speed and leave Mikaela and Sam.

Mikaela was my sister. Even if we didn't talk to each other sometimes or fought a lot, I still loved her and I didn't want to leave her. Maybe if I went with them, Sam and I could've become friends again. _Or maybe more._

But I didn't want to fool myself. Sam would probably always like Mikaela. Hell, he's liked her since the first grade. There was no way that he'd like me any time soon and I didn't want to be anyone's second choice. It was time I got over him.

And if I left with them, what would happen to Speed? And Techno and Springs? I fought so hard today to help them find that Allspark and to stop Speed from getting tortured. Would they torture him more if I left him? And what would happen to Springs and Techno if Speed never came back?

"So… you won't let him go?"

Mikaela shook her head. I could choose between going home and the adventure of a lifetime. Between family and strangers. Right and wrong.

Looking at Mikaela's blue eyes made what I was about to do even more difficult. I whispered, knowing all too well that she would hear me, "I am so sorry."

Without a second thought, I ran to the nearest wall. When I saw what I was looking for, I ran towards it. My sweaty hands grabbed the white lever, pulling it down. An ear-piercing noise ran through the air, alerting the entire basement. Suddenly, the sprinklers went off, the water drenching us.

In the panic, I ran to Speed, shouting, "Come on!"

He got my message, using his enormous hands to pick me up. I squealed in surprise, losing my balance and falling on to his hands. My stomach flipped a couple of times as I saw how high up we were.

My hands shook when I heard a whirring noise. "What are you doing?" I asked Speed, as I saw parts of his body retracting. My eyes widened when I understood what he was doing. He was transforming in mid run!

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, _no_!" I screeched, as his hands began to pull back. I closed my eyes and waited for my face to hit the hard ground. All I could hear was the sound of whirring of gears, clashing of metal and the beating of my heart.

When I didn't hit the ground like I'd expected, I slowly cracked one eye open and saw that I was in the driver's seat. I sighed with relief, glad that he caught me.

My wet hair clung to my face. I felt bad for getting his seat wet but I couldn't think of a better escape plan.

Looking through the back window, I saw Mikaela looking at me. One of the soldiers raised his gun to fire in the direction of one of Speed's tires. While staring at my eyes, she silently pushed the soldier's gun down.

I looked away, settling into my seat. I knew I'd done the right thing… so why did I feel so miserable? Like I couldn't do anything right.

As the fire exit opened, Speed and I driving past it, leaving my sister and my old crush in the dust.

**A/N: Hey, Missy here! Wow, a lot of angst in that chapter, huh? And the way she blew up at Sam! I was proud of her for that. But that's just how I feel she would've acted if she'd been used and taken advantage of for years. And when you bottle your emotions up for so long they just eventually burst. **

**And i'm sorry for not updating in a while but I had a hard time deciding whether or not to have them meet up with the other Autobots or not and I came up with this plot twist! Dun dun dun! And there's more where that came from.**

**Thanks for reading! **

**- MissyAwkward**


	11. Chapter 10: The Primes

I couldn't stop the tears that flowed down my cheeks.

Confusion was one of the only emotions that I felt. So many questions buzzed around my head and there were so many that I didn't have the answer too. The frustration of it all brought tears to my eyes. Why couldn't I get anything right?

The other emotion that I felt was fear. It paralyzed me, making me stay still against the seat. It made me afraid to look at Springs and Techno - who had only entered the car a few minutes ago. It made me feel numb and it scared me.

How did I know that I'd made the right choice? How did I know that I wasn't driving off to my doom? Maybe I should've listened to Sam and Mikaela.

The barren desert in front of me seemed to stretch on for miles. I could feel the hot sun shining through Speed's windows. It made me feel like I was under a magnifying glass. As if every move I made was being watched. Like I was trapped - which in reality, I was.

There was a burning feeling at the pit of my stomach. I felt like could throw up any second. Perhaps I'd feel better if I did. Maybe the guilt and the confusion would exit my body, too.

And suddenly, I didn't want to be in the car anymore. I couldn't stand the feeling of sitting there, pretending nothing was wrong. I couldn't take being too scared to even move. I didn't like the feeling that I could burst into tears any moment or could empty out my guts.

"Stop the car," I said, so quietly that I could hardly hear myself. My body starts trembling in an effort to hold back all the tears.

And I finally couldn't take it anymore. "Stop the car! I said stop the car!" I screamed. The emotions that were pouring out of me were too overwhelming. "Stop the car. Please, just stop the car," I sobbed, my hands covering my face.

Speed swerved on to the desert sand, releasing my seatbelt and opening the door for me. I stumbled out of the car, wanting to get far away as possible.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. When I saw that it was Speed's holoform, I pushed him away from me. "Don't touch me!"

Hurt flashed across his face and it made me that much angrier. Why was he hurt? I was the one lied to. I'm the one who was caught in their web of lies.

"Minnie just hear us out," Speed started.

"How dare you?" I demanded, venom dripping from my voice. "After all this time, do you really think like I'm going to hear you out? Like I'm just going to stand here and pretend everything normal and fine, because it's not! You're a Decepticon!"

Springs stepped forward, saying, "We defected years ago,"

I couldn't help but glare at him. "And you couldn't tell me that before?" I exclaimed.

"Well, we're sorry, Princess, but it's not something we like sharing. You have no idea what it's like! To be seen as traitors by Decepticons and not being accepted by Autobots. Always stuck in the middle," he told me bitterly. "Because no matter what we do, we'll _never_ be one of them!"

That evoked a feeling of pity. I never really knew what it was like to be left out - well, I did, but I was stuck with the nerds and Miles and Sam. But having both sides hate you, knowing you're not good enough to be an Autobot but being shunned by the Decepticons because you're a traitor.

"If you defected then why didn't that Autobot recognize you?"

Springs turned to Speed, asking, "What Autobot?"

"Bumblebee."

The smaller one of the two rolled his eyes as if he knew him. "He recognized my face. Unfortunately, I'm not the only Bot out there who has this face."

I looked at his holoform. With the messy, black hair and the bright, electric blue eyes. It was hard to believe that the guy (robot?) that stood in front of me was once a Decepticon. Hell, he still could've been a Decepticon for all I knew.

"Are you trying to say that you have some sort of identical twin brother that's a Decepticon?" I questioned him, but was met with silence. "A twin brother? Really? Out of all the clichés you could've used, you pick the stupidest one?"

The look on Speed's face was one of pure confusion. "Why don't you believe me?" he asked in a small, innocent voice. _Oh come on, like I'm going to fall for that one,_ I thought.

"Because you're a liar!" I screamed. "Because you're all liars! You lied to me! You manipulated me! You made me leave my sister, my family. You made me believe I was you're friend. Made me help you find that Allspark. And after everything we've been through this past week, you're still lying to me." I told them, fresh tears rolling down my face. "Why are you lying to me? Why can't you just tell me the truth?"

"Minnie…"

A splitting headache had formed inside my head. It was growing more and more intense by the minute. A sharp pain had invaded my stomach, as if I'd just been punched there.

"What's happening to me?" I sobbed.

All the mood swings that I've been having weren't normal. That time when I opened the bag of nuts on the floor in anger at Johnston, the way I snapped at him yesterday, the way I was frightened of my friends. Because they were my friends. I wouldn't have left with them if they weren't.

A hot, searing pang shot through my chest. It made me fall to the floor, clawing at my t-shirt. My hand reached under my shirt, taking out the shard. It was glowing a bright blue. When I went to touch it, it burned my hand, a hiss of pain coming from my mouth.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?" I shouted through my sobs. I saw Speed moving forward to touch me, but a force field was blocking him from me. Techno and Springs tried as well, but they couldn't get through the barrier.

It was as if all the oxygen in the bubble was being sucked out. I found it harder to breathe after the seconds passed. The headache had turned a migraine and I felt like somebody was trying to stab the living daylights out of my stomach.

The migraine slowly started to disappear. But as it began to disappear, I had trouble keeping my eyes open. Like something was calling me. I tried my hardest not to succumb to whatever it was pulling me in, but the last thing I remembered was Speed mouthing something to me. I guess I'd never know what he'd said.

* * *

_Am I in heaven?_ was the first thought I had when I woke up.

Everywhere I looked was surrounded by a kaleidoscope of colours. Like I was inside a prism. It was white, as if I was standing on a cloud - but then again, the constant fog of colours made it hard to tell.

"Speed?" I called out. "Springs, Techno! Hello, is anybody out there?" My voice didn't even echo. "Mikaela, Sam! Dad! Anyone!" I screamed, still no reply.

Just when I was about to call out to somebody, I heard loud noise. A few seconds later, I heard the same thing again. Whatever that noise was, it was getting closer. As I stared into the fog, I made out a few shapes. Huge ones, too.

When they came into view, my eyes widened as I looked up. Standing right in front of me were gigantic robots. Even taller than Speed. They looked different than Speed or "Bumblebee". They looked stronger, wiser, older. The way their blue eyes looked down on me sent chills down my back.

But what was even scarier was when they said in unison, "We've been expecting you, Minerva Rose Banes."

_Wow, puling out the full name,_ I thought to myself, astonished that they even knew who I was.

"Who are you and what am I doing here?" I asked, my voice trembling a little. For all I knew these guys could disintegrate me with one look - and if they could I didn't want to be the one who found out.

One of them spoke. "We are the Primes. The first Cybertronians created by the Allspark. We formed the Dynasty of Primes and became the original rulers of the planet Cybertron."

"Okay, that's great and all but if you were the rulers of the planet Cybertron, why aren't you helping the Autobots win the war?" I demanded.

Another one spoke this time, his voice deep and commanding. "It is not in our power, fleshling. For we are no longer alive to do so."

I bit my lip, blushing. He'd successfully shut me up. A giant - dead - robot had just shut me up.

"That still doesn't explain why I'm here." I told them.

"We have been watching you for a very long time, Minerva Rose Banes. Ever since you were just a young, human child. We have chosen you to carry the Allspark shard. We -"

I interrupted the Prime. "What do you mean you chose me to carry the shard? I found it in that junkyard. It was an accident."

"There are no accidents," the Prime said, making me feel like I was Kung Fu Panda. "And it was certainly no accident that you found that shard. It was no accident that Springer, Techno and Speedstrike all crashed in that same area. Haven't you ever wondered why they chose you, out of all people, to help them find the Allspark? How the you happened to even _find_ that shard?"

Then it dawned on me. The night I found that shard, I thought I heard someone calling out to me. It was them drawing me to that shard. And how did I end up going back to the junkyard the same night that Springs, Speed and Techno woke up?

I said to them, "Alright, so you practically forced the four of us together? Why?"

"There is a great threat," the Prime spoke dangerously. "In your home country, there are four shards that came from the Allspark. If the Decepticons capture all four pieces they'll use the shards' power to create their own army."

"How am I involved in this?" I asked the Primes.

With conviction, the Prime replied, "One shard is in your possession, the other with the Decepticons. It's up to you to find the other remaining shards and destroy them."

I shook my head, feeling buried with pressure. "I can't do that," I told them. "I'm just Minnie Banes. City girl; nerd; baseball player; criminal record holder. All those things plus an all powerful all spark shard is too much for this girl to handle."

"As we have said before, Minerva Banes, we've been watching you since you were a child. There was a reason why we chose you. The future of your planet rests in your hands. Earth needs you, Minerva."

They were telling me that I was supposed to help them destroy something that's more powerful than anything I'd ever encountered. _I guess if I'm with Speed -_ my thoughts ended abruptly when I remembered that he'd lied to me.

"What do I have to do?" I demanded.

"You have to find the remaining shards. In order for you to destroy the shards, you have to have all four of them in your possession. Only when the shards are together, can they be destroyed. You must act swiftly, Minerva Banes, for we fear the Decepticons know that you have a shard and will be after you."

I drummed my fingers on my thighs. So now the Decepticons were after me. _Great_. What _else_ could've gone wrong?

As if I'd said the magic words, my surroundings began to vanish before my eyes. Far away, I could see some of the clouds start to disappear. That meant I didn't have much time left with the Primes.

"Where am I supposed to find the other shards?" I asked them.

"Use your own. It will guide to the others,"

I saw that the clouds were disappearing even faster. "Wait! Don't leave me!" as I saw the Primes' image fading away. "How am I supposed to know how to destroy the shards?" I shouted.

"You will know when the time comes," My knees buckled, and my body collapsed on the cold, white ground. My eyes had trouble staying open again and I could feel something trying to pull me under. "And Minerva Banes, trust your partners, for only they can keep you safe. Beware of the shard. No human is ever supposed wield it. The power can change you."

* * *

"Minnie! Get up for crying out loud!" I felt something push me over, but my body wouldn't respond.

I heard a voice exclaim, "Springs, you can't harm her!"

"I did not harm her. I barely laid a finger on her. It's not my fault humans are so… fragile."

"Who you calling fragile?" I questioned groggy, rolling over. I winced as the hot, desert sand burned my hand. I got up, my eyes adjusting to the evening sky. "Oh my gosh, how long have I been out?" I asked.

Springs checked the imaginary watch on his arm. "About five hours."

"Five hours!" I blurted out. _Huh, felt more like five minutes._ "So left me out in the Arizona desert for five hours?" I demanded.

"Well, it's not like we could touch you, remember? If you want to be bitchy about it, I suggest you go do it elsewhere," Springs told me.

"Springs!" Speed scolded.

I shook my head, interjecting. "No, he's right," They both looked at me like I'd said the most weirdest thing in the world. "I know I haven't been the nicest person lately. Shut up," I said to Springs before he say anything. "My emotions have just been all over the place and I don't know why. And I'm sorry for the way I treated you but why didn't you tell me?"

Speed was the one to answer the question. "You wouldn't have come with us. And we haven't known you for that long so we wouldn't know how you'd react to the news. I am extremely sorry, Minnie."

It was hard to stay mad at somebody as cute as that. I smiled a bit. "Apology accepted. So, no more secrets?"

"No more secrets," he agreed. Techno made a whirring sound and his wires lit up.

We all looked at Speed who looked at us like we'd just committed a crime. "Fine. No more secrets. You want me to pinky promise too?" he questioned, while Speed looked confused as to what a pinky promise was. Honestly, you'd think if somebody had the ability to search things up in their head they wouldn't be as clueless as Speed was.

"So what happened?" asked Speed, probably pushing aside the pinky promise thing.

We all sat down as I divulged into my story. I told them all about the Primes and the dreamland that I went to. How we had to find the other shards and destroy them all before the Decepticons used them to create their army.

"So how are we supposed to find the shards?" Springs asked as Techno whirred in agreement.

I shrugged. "They said that my shard would guide it to the others," I replied, as an idea popped into my head. "Maybe…"

I stood up. Taking the shard out of my shirt and holding it in my hands. I concentrated on the locations of the shards._ Where am I supposed to find them? Where are they? Tell me where they are?_ I thought. And as if the shard could hear me, a surge of power exploded from it, casting a projection in the air.

Speed, Techno and Springs stood up in amazement. In front of us was a projection of a map of the USA. On it were three green dots, where all the other shards were. "That is so cool," I said aloud, marvelling at the sight.

"What does the weather have to do with it?" Speed questioned. I took a sideways glance at him. It took all I had not to laugh at him.

"No, that's not what means," I stated, smiling at him. "Cool can be used to describe something you think is really awesome or excellent."

"Oh," he said in a quiet tone. "Cool."

I laughed out loud. "Has anyone ever told you you're amazing?" I asked, still laughing.

"Okay, okay, Speed's amazing and super cool, trust me, we get it," Springs interjected. Even his stupid condescending, Spanish accent couldn't ruin my mood, though it did make my eyes roll. "Look, the closest one's in Miami, Florida."

I couldn't contain the groan that came out of my mouth. "But that'll take us at least thirty hours," I said. I knew from experience. My Aunt Caroline took Mikaela and I to Disney world once when we were eight. We had driven by car, and let me tell, it was a _long_ drive.

Speed grinned and declared, "Next stop: Miami!"

**A/N: So… that took a while! Oh my God, I'm so incredibly sorry that I haven't uploaded in awhile. I had to think about what the trio was going to do. So what do you think of this plot twist? Pretty… um… pretty surprising huh? Eh? The story's just starting to heat up.**

***Spolier alert! But trio + Minnie (quartet?) is going to have a new group member pretty soon. So, I'm just gearing up for that. Oh man, I have got so many ideas for this story. So many plot twists. And I know that there's no romance yet, after all Minnie has only just met the bots. So it'd be kind of weird that she'd be fawning over them after she met them almost a week ago.**

**But do you want it to be a Bot/Minnie story… Because I'm kinda leaning towards that. Actually I'm leaning to certain blue-eyed, messy haired, naive, cute little bot. **

**Anyways, I'll put a poll up so you can all vote (It won't really change my opinion but I'd like to see who everyone votes for. It's nice to know what you guys, as readers, are thinking about)**

**But I don't believe in rushing the relationship. I want it to be slow, real and sweet. I guess I'm a hopeless romantic, sue me (don't actually, I'm just kidding)! But I want Minnie in one of those relationships where she's still her own person and doesn't rely on the guy every waking minute of her life. I want her to grow as a person. **

**Oh well. Thanks for waiting this long to read this chapter. You guys are the best. Without you I probably wouldn't have had the guts to continue ****this story, so thank you!**

**I'll see you guys soon! And don't forget to vote!**


	12. Chapter 11: America's Favorite Past Time

The smell of french fries wafted in by the nearby McDonald's. I could almost smell the hormones on the guys that checked out the group of girls too cool to notice them. The clicks of the high heels were everywhere and the little kids crying for the mom's to get them a certain toy was so familiar it made me nostalgic.

"What the hell are we doing here?"

And of course it had to be ruined by Springs opening his huge mouth. Pivoting, I replied, "We're here to celebrate America's favourite pastime."

"Shopping?" he asked, annoyance dripping from his voice.

Smiling, I said, "_Si, muchacho!_" mocking his accent. He shot me a scathing look. "Lighten up. I thought you'd enjoy it. After all, you are visitors. What better way to observe humans than by pretending to be one and taking part in a fantabulous rite of passage?"

"We're _supposed_ to be on the hunt for the All Spark shard,"

And the awful truth seemed made its way back into my mind. This was real. It wasn't some big dream that I could wake up from. I was expected to do some task that was basically impossible and there was a 97% change I could've been killed. And somehow I was supposed to be okay with that.

I frowned at the thought. Imagine if the Decepticons did find us. They wouldn't hesitate to snap my little neck, or break every single bone in my body. And I was ready for that. But I just wanted to have at least one day to myself where I could at least pretend I was normal.

Was that really too much to ask given the things I've been through and had to sacrifice this week alone?

I rolled my eyes, giving Springs a fake smile. "Oh come on, Springs. Live a little. Besides, even if the," I lowered my voice, "_Decepticons_ find it, they still need my shard in order to takeover the world,"

Springs was about to say something else when Speed interrupted, saying: "Given the things that have happened to us this past week, I believe we all deserve a break," Then he broke out into a grin. "Besides, wouldn't it be interesting to observe the humans. Springs, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We can't miss this."

Something in his electric, blue eyes when he spoke. It reminded me of a little kid whose parents had just said they were going to Disney World.

If I'd been taught anything on this trip so far it's that there's more than what meets the eye. I remember when I first saw Speed, I fainted. But I probably never would've expected him to be… like that. And I was surprised to say that I liked it.

"Techno what do you think?" Speed asked the boom box in my left hand. After a few seconds he said, "See? Even Techno agrees with me."

"He didn't even say anything!" I blurted.

"Comm. link!" he shouted back at me.

Speed smiled knowingly, stating, "Springs, you and I both know he didn't say anything."

Springs glared at Speed before doing the same to me and ultimately Techno. As if we were all conspiring against him. _He just doesn't like the fact that I won,_ I thought to myself.

"Fine," he caved in, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "When the 'Cons start attacking and everything turns to shit, I'm going to be there and I'm going to tell you I told you so." The Autobot Pretender glowered at Speed's beaming face as if he's been stabbed in the back, mumbling, "Parasite lover." before walking away.

"We're not parasites!" I yelled, making everyone within a twenty feet radius stop what they were doing and stare at me.

I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I turned to look back at Springs. Luckily, I'm not very interesting or eye-catching so they all went back to what they were doing.

Opening my mouth to tell Speed a joke, I closed it when I saw the expression on his face. He was looking down at me with intensity that could burn holes through people (and I wasn't even sure whether or not he could do that). The fact that he'd gone from smiling to seriousness in less than a minute intimidated me.

My heart was racing. I knew Speed wouldn't hurt me (technically he couldn't since he was an Autobot) but that didn't stop my heart from beating frantically and my palms to feel sweaty. Especially with him staring at me like that.

His eyes were probably his best quality. He could convince anyone to give him anything with puppy dog eyes like that. Although, sometimes when he was staring at you it was like he could read your thoughts. Like you were an open book.

"You're welcome," he said softly, giving me the faintest of smiles, before going to catch up with Springs.

I stood, frozen to the spot and unsure of how to react to the situation.

He'd known. He knew the real reason why I wanted to stay in the mall, but how? I thought I'd been inconspicuous, that I'd hidden my emotions well. Maybe I'd been too focused on convincing Springs that I didn't even put Speed into the equation.

I brought Techno up to my chest, hugging the boom box tightly. Even though he couldn't exactly hug back, I was content. I needed something to keep me in the game. Something to remind that this wasn't a dream.

Everything was so confusing. The Primes, the All Spark, the Cybertronians, the shards, all of it! It was a puzzle that I didn't have all the pieces to and it frustrated the hell out of me. There were so many things that I still hadn't dealt with, things that I didn't want to deal with. Emotions that I'd never felt in a long time - some that I'd never felt before - were surfacing.

But one thing that wasn't so confusing was how I felt about the way Speed had stared at me. As much as I didn't want to admit it (even to myself)… I liked it.

One thing was for certain, though, my heart was still racing.

* * *

"Oh! You can wear that under your leggings so your panty line doesn't show. Some people just wear it to look and feel sexy. Or, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, wife or husband, some people like to strip -"

"Um," Speed cut in, looking uncomfortable and blushing beet red. "You can forget that I even asked,"

I roared with laughter as I put the red thong back with the others. The look on Speed's face was funny that it had me laughing on the verge of tears for another twenty seconds. I guess going lingerie shopping wasn't Speed's thing.

"It's not funny," he commented, his cheeks still red.

I stifled in my giggles and tried to make a serious face. Shaking my head, I said, "Of course not, Speed. Not funny at all." He sent me a playful glare. "Come on, let's go meet up with Techno and Springs."

Linking my arm with his, I pulled him out of the _Victoria Secret_ and towards the food court. I found a McDonald's and ordered two large fries and two medium Pepsi's. We sat down in the middle of the food court, making meaningless conversation when he asked a personal question.

"Are you two twins?" The question threw me off guard and for a second I didn't know who he was talking about. As if he read my mind, he clarified, "You and your sister, I mean. Are you twins?"

And for a second I contemplated not answering the question. Talking about Mikaela wasn't something I wanted to do, especially when I still felt guilty about leaving her for the trio. However, it was just a simple question and I had a feeling that I would _have_ to tell him about Mikaela so why not today?

"Yeah," I started quietly, like I was remembering a forgotten memory. "Fraternal twins. She's older than me by four minutes."

"Are you two close?" he questioned.

The question brought back the memory of the time we still shared a room together. We were thirteen years old and the seventh grade had just begun. It was our last movie night. The two of us were watching _A Cinderella Story_. We'd painted each other's nails and we pigged out on junk food. I missed those days.

"I'm sorry," he said, breaking me out of my trance. "You don't have to answer the question if you don't want to,"

Taking a deep breath, I replied, "No, no, it's okay. It's just… Mikaela and I don't get along that well. Actually, that'd probably be the understatement of the year," I chuckled bitterly. "It started after our mother left."

"Left?"

I knew I'd have to explain things to Speed. Sometimes his naïvety was adorable (like the thong situation) and other times (like this one) it was a burden.

I didn't remember much of my mother; mostly because I tried my best to block her out. So did my dad and Mikaela. Every picture with her in it was taken down, all the clothes she'd left behind were donated and everything that reminded my dad of her was thrown away.

Clearing my throat, I started explaining. "I was thirteen. Mom and dad had fought for months so I guess it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise," I could feel my eyes starting to water. "I remember staring out the window, hoping that she'd walk through the door with her grocery bags. Or when I came back from school that she'd be there, asking me how my day went. She never did."

"I am so sorry," he said sincerely.

Nodding, I responded, "Me too,"

I could tell Speed wanted to say something but the harsh sound of Techno being plopped onto the table and Spring scraping his chair back so he could sit with us had interrupted us. Relief seemed to course through my veins. I don't think I could've taken another second of Speed's Q&A.

"So, how are you boys?" I questioned, genuinely curious about what they'd been up to.

We'd split up hours ago. Speed was the only who volunteered to go with me, seeing as Springs would rather have his body "torn apart limb from limb, welded together again, then painfully and slowly have them torn off again" than spend the day with me (his words, not mine!). He went with Techno, since everybody had to have a partner.

Springs' dark, brown eyes burned holes through my head. "How do you think it went?" I responded, his voice sounding harsh.

"I think you had lots of fun. I know Speed and I did!" He didn't respond. "Oh come on, Springs. You have to admit that this is way better than hunting down -"

Boom!

My Pepsi toppled over the table and ultimately spilling onto the floor. The shaking of the ground, made me hold onto Spring's arm and Speed to grab hold of Techno who was vulnerable in his boom box form.

"What the hell was that?" Springs demanded after I'd let go of his arm.

I could feel my palms sweating and my heart calming down after the scare. "Maybe it was an Earthquake," I commented, though I wasn't too sure about that.

Speed stood up, like he could sense something in the air. His expression was grim as he frowned to himself. "No," he started, his eyebrows furrowing - giving me the indication that he was either deeply thinking or something was going to go terribly wrong (and it was probably the latter). "It's not an earthquake."

The whole mall shook again, the people surrounding me murmuring loudly to one another, holding onto their friends and families incase something like an earthquake were to happen. I could hear someone on the P.A. system trying to assure everybody that everything was going to be alright. But I knew better.

I turned to Speed, wondering if he was thinking the same thing I was. The look on his face supplied the answer to my question.

"Look, guys. Maybe it's time for our shopping day to come to an end," Butterflies were attacking my stomach and I couldn't help the feeling of panic that I had when the floor shook again. "I really think we should -"

CRASH!

Screams filled the air, deafening me. I turned slightly, using my arms to cover my face as glass rained over us. When I looked back, I saw the huge ass robot stomping through the side of the mall, evoking more screams out of the people.

The Decepticon was gigantic, even taller than Speed. Much taller than speed. I heard the whirring sound of gears and metals clanking against each other as cannons appeared out of his arms. He had a satellite rooted in his chest, probably for locating the shard, or other Cybertronians. Every step he took was met with the cries of people that'd been unfortunate enough to get in his way. But even that I could take.

No - what scared me the most were those red eyes. Those terrifying, unforgiving eyes that were the colour of blood. Eyes that were scanning the mall for the shard. For me.

"Speed," I whispered, my eyes still locked at the Decepticon. I was afraid if I looked away for even a second, that it'd realize that I was the one it was looking for and off me before I could react. "What do I do?"

"Run,"

_What?_ I thought, appalled at the suggestion. As if I could outrun that thing! Was he stupid or something?

I turned to Speed only to be met by his tense expression. His usually comforting personality was nowhere to be seen. "That's your brilliant plan? Running? From that? Are you insane?"

My eyes returned to the Decepticon who was growling loudly. It would only take him a few more seconds to sense that there were Autobots here. Then all hell would break loose.

"Trust Springs. He knows what he's doing, alright? And try not to do anything insane. I'll be back in approximately four minutes."

_Back?_ I yelled inside my head. _What do you mean, "I'll be back?" What is this, Terminator? _

I faced Springs, my eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you going?" I asked, wincing at how whiny that sounded. In response, Speed smiled at me like that was supposed answer all the questions I had. Before I could scream at him and tell him this wasn't the time to play games, blue light surrounded him. I stared, wide eyed, as Speed began to disappear before my very eyes.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. He was leaving now? Right when we were about to get attacked by a freaking monster of a Decepticon. Unbelievable.

I turned back to the monster, letting out a gasp. It's cannon was facing me, heating up for a blast. My body had become completely unresponsive. My brain was telling me to move and my body just wasn't listening. All I could focus on was the cannon that was going to hit me. In fact, I probably would've died if it wasn't for Springs.

A hand wrapped around mine, pulling me to the side, the cannon blast just missing me. The shock made the three of us fall over, pieces of rubble plummeting around us.

My eyes connected with Springs' brown ones. He'd just saved my life. That Spanish, condescending, arrogant, human-hating Autobot Pretender had just saved my life. _Trust Springs. He knows what he's doing, alright?_ Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

The words were stuck in my throat. I wanted to say thanks. I didn't know him, what he'd been through during this war, what he'd lost. And maybe I never would. But saving the life of somebody who was practically a stranger (me), even if it was because of the shard, woke something up inside of me.

Luckily, I didn't have to say anything. He nodded, like he knew what I meant.

Another blast, this one right above us, brought me back on earth. My arms went to cover my head as the debris fell over us. Springs grabbed Techno by the handle and pulled me up by the arm. He forced me to start running, catching me every time I stumbled.

Springs threw Techno out in front of us, making his transform in mid-air. I took Springs' empty hand into mine as we turned a corner.

"Where the hell is Speed?" I panted out, my legs aching.

"He can't work his holoform and the car at the same time. He'll be fine. I know how you worry about him," he teased.

I couldn't stop myself from blushing. "I do not worry about Speed. Excuse me for wondering where the only person who can match that monster's size is."

"You're excused."

Before I could blow up at him, the Decepticon turned the corner, firing at us again. We started running again, but he was gaining on us. He was aiming at me, I could tell. Trying to isolate me from the protection of Springs and Techno.

A hand shot out grabbing Techno. We'd stopped, watching the huge Decepticon try to crush Techno with his hand. Though, it seemed like he'd underestimated Techno by his size because he didn't expect what would happen next. The wires the circled Techno's metal body, lit up in different neon colours. The Decepticon growled in pain and anger, dropping Techno on the ground.

Techno ran to meet us, but I could tell that he was struggling. Spring ran back to him, transforming in mid run. The springs on his feet made it easier for him to reach Techno and circle back to me in a few seconds.

I took the necklace off my neck, holding it tightly in my hand. My hand reached out to Springs, taking his hand in mine. Maybe I could pass the shard off to Springs and we could split up. Maybe the Decepticon would let me go after realizing that I didn't have it. I could at least buy them some time that way.

All of a sudden, something wrapped around my torso, jerking me backwards. I screamed as I was lifted into the air. In a few seconds, I was face to face with the Decepticon.

His hand was squeezing me so hard I had trouble breathing. I was sure that I was going to get bruises all over myself the next morning. _If_, that is, I even got to see the next morning.

"Where is the shard, human?" the Decepticon demanded, squeezing me even tighter.

I briefly looked down to how high I was. All the railings that protected the people from falling over were destroyed. The whole mall was filled with broken glass and debris. We were on the third floor, so there was a slim chance that I'd live. And if I did, most of the major bones in my body would be broken.

Looking back at the Decepticon, I got out a weak, "I don't have it anymore." I was taking in huge gasps, trying to get some air through my lungs. Black dots entered my vision and I knew I wasn't going to last much longer.

The Decepticon glared at me, probably angry that he'd even spent a few seconds of his life interrogating me. His hand let go of me, letting me plunge to the ground. I heard a shrill noise piercing the air; my scream.

I could feel my heart beating faster as I neared the ground. My eyes closed, waiting for that moment where every single bone in my body would break. Where I'd have to face the most excruciating pain in my life. But the moment never came.

Reluctantly, both of my eyes opened slowly. My heart lifted when I saw two, familiar, electric blue eyes. I laughed a bit, feeling like a weight had been lifted of my chest. I stood up, going to hug his huge, metal face.

"You always seem to catch me, don't you?" I joked, stepping back.

Speed smiled at me. "Well, I am your knight in shining armour."

I couldn't help but smile at him. "I'm glad you're back. It was hell back there. I gave the shard to Springs but you have to help him and Techno out. Fast."

Speed nodded, setting me down carefully. Before leaving, he turned around, saying, "Don't move," I nodded my head, thinking, _Yeah, as if I'm going to stay here._ "I mean it, Minnie."

He didn't even wait for a response before going to help out his fellow teammates. Speed didn't hesitate, as he ran straight into the Decepticon, taking him down to the ground.

Watching Speed fight was incredible. He slashed the Decepticons multiple times with the two, sharp blades on his right arm. Despite being several feet shorter than the Decepticon, he managed to do a lot of harm. He dodged most of the shots that were aimed at him. Even though he was really big, he was also quite fast. Faster than I'd thought something of that size could ever move.

No wonder they called him Speedstrike.

Springs and Techno joined in on the fight, making it three against one. Techno electrified the Decepticon whenever he got the chance, slowing the ginormous Cybertronian down. Springs and Speed were firing cannons, though Springs' weren't all that big or powerful.

The Decepticon growled fiercely, shaking them off of him. He threw Speed and Springs through a nearby _Sport Check_. Though Springs shot up, landing on the Decepticon's face. He used his canon to blast him in the face, making the monster tumble on the ground.

A large wail came out of the Cybertronian when his body hit the ground. Springs got off of the Decepticon and Techno and Speed had recovered from their last blow.

When the Decepticon tried to stand up, Speed reacted fast. He ran forward and with one movement he slashed the Decepticon's head off. Sparks went off, firing everywhere. His body dropped on the floor, energon pooling around its body.

I went up to them, cautiously. They were all standing around the Decepticon's body. It was probably the biggest Cybertronian I'd ever seen, but it was probably wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Springs folded his arms, giving me a look of superiority. "I told you so."

I sneered at him. Even though he saved my life, I swear, he was one of the most annoying people I'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. "Fuck off," I replied, not in the mood. Speed shook his head, like he was trying his hardest not to laugh, while Springs smirked.

This day didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I'd hoped for a boring, relaxing shopping day. Now I knew that I could never have something like that. That my life, as long as I was with Techno, Springs and Speed, would never be the same.

And I liked it.

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? I worked really hard on that, but somehow it doesn't feel that great. And yeah, Springs isn't a total jerk is he? No, he's arrogant and guarded. Oh, I love his character. I'm going to have so much fun with him. And the romance is heating up. I don't blame Minnie for getting all hot and bothered, I mean wouldn't we all love to have our own knight in shining armour?**

**And the somebody else is going to join the group soon! Omg, I can't wait. It's an original character and I hope you all like him like I do. I'm really excited. **

**Anyways, thank you all for reading my story, ****favoriting me, putting this story on alert and reviewing. You have no idea how happy I get when I see the feedback. It's honestly one of the best feelings in the world and so incredibly grateful that you guys take the time to favourite/alert/review this story. Thank you.****  
**

**And I'd like to apologize for the long wait. School's almost over so you know how hectic things can be with exams and tests and assessments. So, thanks you for waiting.**

**Hope you all have a wonderful day**

**Hugs, Kisses and Awkwardness to all**

**- MissyAwkward**


	13. Chapter 12: Left Behind

_Goodbyes are hard. It may be hard for the person leaving,  
__but it's always harder for the one left behind_

_-Unkown_

* * *

_Crash! The sound of a plate breaking resonated through the house, adding to the already thick tension. It merged with the screams of a couple who threw insults at each other without difficulty you'd think it was second nature._

_"You think it's that easy?" the woman shouted. "That I can just drop what I'm doing and spend every single day at home? Don't you think I've thought of that already? That maybe what I'm doing isn't all fun and games? That maybe I'd like to come home to a loving family and most of all, my husband who's supposed to be loving and trusting,"_

_The man scoffed. "Well maybe I'd be more trusting if you didn't sneak out of bed every single night, Susan."_

_"I told you already," the woman, Susan, said with a tired expression. As if she'd gone over this many times. "It's for your own safety. The family's safety."_

_These words seemed to hit a nerve with the man. He laughed bitterly before he retaliated, saying: "Our safety? Somehow I don't believe that. Because if this was really about the family's safety, you wouldn't have taken the job. If this was really about our safety, you wouldn't be putting the kids in danger. And if whatever you really wanted us out of harm's way you'd take the bags we all know you have packed and just _leave_!"_

_A long silence filled the room after he said those words. Susan looked at him, like she expected him to take the words back but he never did. _

_"Fine," was the only thing she said._

_She disappeared into her room for a few seconds, only to return with two suitcases trailing behind her. Susan didn't look twice at the man before exiting the house. _

_Suddenly, my legs found the will to move. Though, it wasn't me who was doing the moving. My legs flew through the door and out into the rain. _

_Words flew out of my mouth, ones that I didn't have any control over. The same word kept being repeated only at different volumes. "Mom, mom!" _

_She was faster than I was, though. She'd already had her bags in the trunk and all I could was stand there and watch her prepare to leave. _She's not actually going to leave, _I thought to myself. She'd done it plenty of times before, leaving and coming back a few hours later. Sometimes days later._

_"Mom, where are you going?" I asked her, the words spilling out. She circles the car climbing in the driver's seat. "Mom, please don't go. You know dad. He's just a bit angry. He just needs some time to cool off."_

_But Susan made it her life's mission to ignore me. She closed the car door, making me angry. Before I could even say anything, my hands were up, banging on the car. At first she seemed surprised, but regained her composure quickly. _

_"You promised!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My hair was clinging to my face as I banged on the door again. "You said you would never leave me and Mikaela! You said you would always be there! But now I know you're nothing but a _liar_!" _

_The last word was emphasized with me leaving a dent in the door. My heart was beating wildly as I started panting. She looked at me one more time, her blue eyes shining, before starting the engine. Susan backed out of the driveway and left._

_She left me._

_And I stood there, in the rain, with three words circling my head. Three words that I would never forget._

_She left me. _

I shoot up, breathing heavily. My eyes took in the room, trying to figure out where I was. Then I remembered. We stopped at a hotel in Tallahassee and booked a room for the night.

_Deep breaths,_ I thought to myself, I rubbed my sweaty palms on to the white covers. That was the first nightmare I'd had in years.

_You promised!_

The nightmare was so vivid. Almost as if I was there at that exact moment. I could smell the freshly cut grass. I could feel the rain on my skin. Hell, my fists hurt from banging on the car door.

I remembered that day perfectly. It was the day my mom left. I hadn't seen her since. I used to have this same dream all the time until the ninth grade. I finally convinced myself she wasn't coming back and they'd just stopped.

Well, until today.

Deciding that I didn't want to stay in the room anymore, I raised the covers and walked over to the living room area. It wasn't exactly the greatest idea since it was freezing in the room, but I guess it was better than nothing.

Just as I sat down on the couch, I heard a clicking noise and the sound of gears shifting. I calmed down when I saw it was only Techno. His wires were a soft blue colour that I found soothing.

"Couldn't sleep either?" I asked. He nodded his head, making his way over to me. He sat down on the floor and I slid off the couch, deciding to join him. I studied the little robot.

Techno was probably the smallest Cybertronian I'd ever seen. Well, from what I'd seen, it seemed as if most Cybertronians were at least twenty feet tall and were all packing cannons at least five times my body weight. Even though he was quite short, he wasn't to be underestimated.

"You don't talk much, do you?" I questioned, looking at him.

Instead of answering, Techno hugged his knees close to his body. He stayed like that for at least thirty seconds before shaking his head. The tiny robot looked up at me as if he wanted to tell me something. For a minute I actually thought he was going to break his silence, but he turned away.

_How can such a small body hide so many secrets?_ I asked myself. I wondered what he knew. After all, it's always the silent ones that have the most to say.

"Well, it honestly doesn't matter if you can talk or not," I told him, acting nonchalant. "Rule number one for getting on a girl's good side: be a good listener."

And he was a good listener. Maybe he couldn't talk but that didn't stop us from having a great conversation. Whenever he agreed with something, which he usually did, he'd nod his head or make a humming sound. When he didn't agree, he shake his head or make a cry of sorts in protest.

"Okay, I have no idea what you're trying to say." I told him. He groaned in exasperation, covering his face with his hands. "Oh come on, give me one more try. Fourth time's the charm, right?" He nodded, reluctantly, and began his performance again.

I said, "I know the first word's "what,"" making him hum. Then he pointed to his head. "Oh, I know this one," I started confidently. "Brain? No? Okay, um, head. Think. Think? Yes, I got it!" I cried when I found out the word.

Techno then started jumping, so I guessed, "Jump, hop." All of which were wrong. He continued to jump, making me confused. _I'm going to need thesaurus for this game. _"Okay," I said, "How about leap, spring, pounce." _Pounce? Where the hell did I get that from?_

Though Techno nodded his head. "Pounce?" I asked skeptically. Techno groaned again, shaking his head. He made a circle motion with his arms, gesturing for me to reverse. "Spring? Oh! Springs!" I shouted and he nodded his head. I bet if he could make a sarcastic comment he would've done it already.

"What do I think of Springs?" I said, making sure that was the question. He hummed, smiling. "Well, that's a really weird question."

To be honest, I wasn't really sure how to answer. So, I just blurted out what I thought.

"He's… different," I started, making Techno grin. "I don't know, sometimes I get the impression he likes me, other times it's as if he hates my guts. I guess without him and his snarky attitude, the group would be kind of boring. And I wouldn't really have anyone to fight with. So, yeah, he's cool."

Before Techno could say anything else, a loud voice declared: "What the Pit? It's so freaking cold in here. What's wrong with you? Turn up the heat."

I rolled my eyes at Springs' dramatic entrance. "The heating's broken, moron. Remember, you were watching WWE and you saw that Undertaker guy do a move and you tried to wrestle Speed and you body slammed him against the heater."

"Actually, I do believe it was the other way around," A heard a voice say.

Springs rolled his eyes, replying, "In your dreams, Godzilla. Besides, wrestling's stupid. Leave it to humans to create something as stupid as slamming a chair on top of a guy's head and actually pay to watch it." I smirked a bit. The only reason he was insulting us humans was because Speed had totally beat his ass.

Speed came to in the little circle we'd made, Techno sitting in the middle. I couldn't help but notice his bed-head. His dark hair was sticking out everywhere. He wore blue, plaid pyjama pants with a matching blue top. He flashed a grin and I couldn't help but think, _Why do you have to be _so _damn cute?_

"Techno, do you mind?" asked Springs, his body shaking. Techno nodded. Gradually, his wires turned red, engulfing the blue colour.

Heat flooded into the room,making me almost sigh in pleasure. Techno must've been the one producing this heat. But why he couldn't have done this earlier, I have no idea.

We sat there, taking in the heat. I could feel an awkward silence looming over our head, so I blurted, "Do you want to play questions?"

Springs shot me, what I like to call, a "WTF" look. Before he could shoot down the idea, Speed interjected, "Yeah! Sounds like fun. I'll start. What's your favourite colour?"

I winced while Springs groaned. The dreaded colour question. "What?" Speed questioned. "Is that not how you play?"

"What"s your favourite colour?" Springs repeated, mocking Speed a little. "Out of all the questions that have ever been asked in the entire universe you choose "What's your favourite colour?"? What the frag is wrong with you?"

Instead of looking even slightly offended, Speed had an amused expression on his face. "Well, _I_ thought it was great question," he defended himself. "And if you don't want to answer the question, don't answer it." He turned to me, "Minnie, what's your favourite colour?"

"Blue," I said without thinking, staring at his eyes. They were a combination different blues. Darker in the middle and lighter around the edges. What I liked most was the fact that they never changed colour like most blue eyes did. Never green. Never grey. Always blue. "Definitely blue."

Speed smiled. "Mine too."

And so we continued playing questions, learning more about each other in the process. Springs made it his mission to make Speed uncomfortable by asking sexual questions. Though I never answered any of them (it wasn't as if he didn't already know the answer) Speed blushed every time. As the questions went on they started being more personal.

"Last boy you've ever had feelings for," Springs asked.

I could feel my face heating up. It wasn't something I wanted to discuss with any of them. Springs would hold this piece of information over my head for as long as I lived. And it'd be really embarrassing telling Techno and Speed.

"Shma Wickity," I mumbled, not forming any English words. I hoped that if I said it low enough they'd guess a name and I wouldn't have to tell them Sam's real name. Although, Springs was not satisfied with that response.

He feigned a look of confusion, saying, "I'm sorry, _chica_, what was that?" I glared at him, mumbling the name again. "I am terribly sorry. It seems that my audio receptors aren't working that well. You want to repeat that again, only this time, just a _tad_ bit louder?"

"Sam Witwicky!" I yelled, blushing profusely. "Sam Witwicky. Are you happy now?"

Springs breaks out into laughter. "What kind of a name is Witwicky?" he questioned, laughing even harder. I replied with a "Screw you" but I don't think he heard me over his chuckles.

I avoided all eye contact with Speed until at least ten more questions had been asked. The questions were getting more and more personal. What was your favourite thing to do growing up? Earliest memory?

Somehow Springs and Speed managed to avoid all these questions. They'd somehow twisted the question until it was pointing back at me and I had to answer it. So basically I was the only one answering any questions and I was getting sick of it.

In all my irritation, I asked Springs, "What's your brother's name?"

The question seemed to suck all the positivity out of the room, creating tension. Maybe I shouldn't have done it. I never even considered whether that was a tough subject for Speed or not. I just blurted the first question I could think of.

"What?" was the only thing Speed could say.

I felt as if I was walking on very thin ice. Like if I were to say a wrong word I'd plunge into the icy depths below. "Your twin brother. You said you had one, right? What's his name?"

The smile was wiped off his face. Before today, I don't think that I'd ever seen Speed without a smile or an amused look on his face. And I took it all back. I took back the question that I asked. I was sorry for even mentioning it. But I couldn't find the courage to say that out loud. I was too scared of his reaction.

"Backtrack," he said finally, giving me a smile. "His name is Backtrack."

I smiled back, but I knew it wasn't something he liked to talk about. And even though he had a smile on her face, it wasn't genuine. I knew what Speed's smile - his real smile - looked like and that wasn't it.

And the game of questions was over. The atmosphere in the room changed completely and it started to get boring. i wasn't even listening to the conversation half the time.

"Where'd you get the money?" I interrupted.

Springs rolled his eyes."Do you just plan these random outbursts?" he asked with an air of annoyance.

I decided to ignore him and continued to say, "Well we've done all sorts of stuff. Buying food, oil for your rusted joints, staying at hotels. I mean, we must've used at least a thousand dollars. So where'd you get it all?"

Techno, Speed and Springs all exchanged looks. Finally, Springs responded, "We didn't use money. We just… hacked the systems using our technology."

I could feel my stomach drop. "You what?"

"Well, we didn't have any money." Speed said.

My back straightened and body felt tense. "Why didn't you tell me that? We've been travelling for at least two weeks."

"It didn't seem that important."

"Not important!" I cried. "Haven't you considered the fact that maybe the -"

I never got to finish my sentence.

The doors burst open, my heart almost leaping out of my ribcage. My head swivelled around, eyes widening. There was a bright light. Too bright. My eyes turned into slits, as if squinting would help me see better.

A scream came out of me as I tried to move backwards. I tripped over something, landing on the floor._ Get up,_ I thought frantically. I had to get up. I had to move because, even though I didn't want to admit it, I was the weakest link. If I didn't get out, I'd get left behind.

Left behind all over again.

_She left me_.

Flashes of my nightmare entered my vision and clouded my thoughts. For a minute I was disoriented, confused about what I was seeing. I saw my mom's blue eyes, then Techno's wires filling up with electricity, making my eyes close again. _Too bright,_ I thought.

Something grabbed me, forcing me to my feet. I opened my eyes to see a soldier. He was quite handsome with his rugged looks, sand brown hair that I'd once mistaken for blonde and light brown eyes that I could now see were brown. He was the soldier back at Hoover Dam. The one who tried coax me over to his side.

His voice was very comforting and he seemed like a very protective and trusting but all I could think was, _He knows me. He knows who I am. He knows my name. I need to get away from him._

The soldier could only grab me with one hand as the other one had a gun in it. I used this to my advantage and kicked him in the shin, hard. His grub loosened and I used the chance to yank my arm away.

I backed away from the soldier and deeper into the hotel room. I saw Speed edging closer to the back of the room. He was useless in his holoform. Though Springs and Techno were working double time to fend off the soldiers.

I ran behind Techno and Springs who were trying their best not to harm the soldiers. Techno created an electric line between us and the soldiers. Whoever stepped on it would be electrocuted, but luckily for the soldiers they were smart enough to stay away.

"Run to the back window!" Speed shouted when the soldiers started to fire.

We all ran through the door and into the other room. As I made my way to the window, I feel a sudden pain on my leg. I cried out, falling to the floor. They shot me. They actually shot me!

I inspected my leg, looking for the bullet holes. Instead I found a black dart, inscribed with the robot face that was on my hand. As quickly as I could, I pulled out the dart, barely able to stifle my scream. Blood started to trickle down my leg and I was sure that I'd torn a blood vessel or hurt something else. Though I didn't have the time. I needed to get up.

Using the wall beside me, I used my hands to help me up. I took a step forward, a feeling of nausea overcoming me. Spots clouded my vision and I couldn't move forward. I heard sounds from the back, signalling that the soldiers got through Techno's line.

I collapsed on the ground, my skull hitting the wood floor roughly. A tingly erupted throughout my head, the sign of a headache beginning. Bile rushed up my throat but i pushed it back down. I knew I was crying because of the blurriness. Or maybe that was a side effect of whatever they shot me with.

From that angle I could see the soldiers charging towards Springs, Techno and Speed. Techno was the first one out of the window. Springs followed him out on to the fire escape, changing into his original form on the way down. I could only see his hair being replaced by a chrome colored skull before he disappeared. Speed could only get his arm out of the window, before they took hold of his torso and slammed him on the ground.

Two soldiers brought Speed up to his feet, holding him tightly. We were surrounded by guns and we were outnumbered.

"Just go," I whispered, low enough that I could barely hear myself. Though I knew Speed had heard. Even with his holoform, he was superior to the average human.

Our eyes locked and I was plunged into a flashback. Back to the first time I met Speed. I was in the junkyard and all I'd seen were his eyes. So bright. So blue. I never would've imagined someone so huge and terrifying could turn out to be so… well, I can't even describe it now.

He never failed to bring a smile on my face or make me feel safe. And it took me until that moment to realize that maybe I had feelings for Speed. That I thought of him as more than just a friend.

Speed shook his head. He tried to fight his way towards me, but they were holding him back tightly. He was struggling and thrashing wildly and it took four soldiers to restrain him.

I felt myself getting picked up, bridal style. My eyes were threatening to snap shut and I was scared. I realized that this was real. That this was actually happening. I was being taken by the government. I'd be identified as a threat to national security and I'd be sentenced to death.

_I don't want to die_! I thought to myself. Fear coursed through my veins and I could feel my heart thumping in my throat. _I don't want to die._

My eyes met Speed's for the last time. The muscles in my mouth began to relax, almost to the point where I couldn't even mouth words anymore. "Go," I mouthed again. He seemed reluctant but also more lenient than last time.

I felt the butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I didn't actually want him to leave. What would happen to me if he left? He was the only person left who could protect me.

The drug they shot me with was shutting my whole body down. I knew I only had one more chance to say something. And by the look in his eyes I could tell he knew that too. I opened my mouth to tell him not to leave, to beg him to stay with me. Instead what came out was a loud "Go!"

_No!_ My mind shouted in retaliation. I cursed at myself, wondering why I said that. As soon as I thought those things, I realized that I was acting like a spoiled brat. I was being selfish, greedy, dependant. And yet I couldn't find it in myself to care. I wanted him with me.

Speed's eyes caught mine one more time. _Don't go,_ I thought once more. And for a second, it was as though he could read my mind. But that second was over as quickly as it started.

He began to disappear and I tried to call out for him. His whole body was breaking up into little, blue particles. The soldiers, surprised at the sudden events, started shooting at him. Though it was too late, all of their darts seemed to fly through his body.

I started to panic, my palms sweating. _Don't leave me! _I thought. _Don't you _dare_ leave me!_

My eyes finally closed just as Speed's head vanished. Everything was a blur. From the static the soldiers' walkie-talkies produced, the voices of the soldiers yelling "Where'd he go?", and the sound of a helicopter's blades spinning far away in the distance.

But only one thing stayed in my mind and I remembered it until I fell into the darkness.

He left me.

**A/N: Well there you go! OMG, the amount of writer's block that I've had when writing this chapter was not funny. I think I rewrote this whole chapter almost five times. I am totally sorry for not uploading for such a long time. I had to write assessments and all that but summer has started! I don't know if I'm going to be able to update as much, seeing as I'm going on vacation soon (****whoop whoop. London here I come!) but I'm going to try.**

**I decided that I'm not going to introduce the next person yet. Not until like two/three more chapters. I just don't think the four of them have bonded enough. And adding a new person into the mix will definitely change the group chemistry and I want them all to be remotely close before adding someone new.**

**Oh and huge thanks to AndromedaAI for giving me the name suggestion to Speed's brothers' name. I am so grateful. ****And for those who're been wondering, Lennox was the soldier. And he will be making an appearance in the next chapter. As will the Autobots! I know, time to fangirl!**

**And I know it's slow but the romance is building! It's getting there! Don't worry, I'm just as impatient as you are.**

**And check out this banner that I made. **

** user/MissyAwkward/media/Minnie_ .html**

**Hugs, Kisses and Awkwardness to all**

**- MissyAwkward**


	14. Chapter 13: All Wrong

_Where am I?_

I woke up to a blinding light. My hand instinctively covered my eyes as I hissed in pain. There was a throbbing pain in my right leg and my head was pulsating painfully. I could feel the vomit trying to make it up my throat, but I sent it back down.

Soon my eyes adjusted to the light. I found that I was in a small, metal room. My left hand was handcuffed to the leg of the table and I was oddly positioned in the tiny chair they'd put me in. Sitting up proved to be a challenge, considering the length of the handcuffs, but I managed to do it.

_I'm going to jail._

The thought made an uncomfortable feeling in my throat occur, as if I was going to throw up. My eyes blinked in an effort to hold in the tears that had yet to fall. The thought of being locked up for life was terrifying. And who was to say I wouldn't get a harsher punishment? What if I was sentenced to death for treason?

Goosebumps appeared on my skin and my hands shook a little. I wasn't completely sure if it was from the cold or not.

How could I have possibly gotten myself into this mess? Just because some leaders of an alien planet - dead leaders at that (honestly, that should've been my first clue) - told me I had to save the world didn't mean I was supposed to.

I wasn't a hero.

_Bam!_

The door slammed open, causing me to jump up in fright. In walked Johnston. The thought calmed me down. Though we weren't on the best terms, I knew that he pitied me to a point. If he didn't he probably wouldn't have led me to Speed that other time, or he wouldn't have let me go so easily.

I followed Johnston's movements as he sat down in his seat. He seemed… rigid. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists. As he sat down, his expression turned from neutral to fury and back. _I'm imagining it,_ I thought. It had happened so fast that I questioned whether or not it had actually happened. Though the look in his eyes told a different story. They were no longer the bright, green eyes that had once held fierce determination. Instead they were cold.

"Where am I?" I asked him, trying to regain my composure. I couldn't afford to look weak. "What the hell is going on?"

Johnston didn't answer me. Instead, he stared at me, as if he was trying to read me. My hands went instinctively to my thigh and they began to drum on it.

"You had everything, you know," Johnston started, his face giving off an unreadable expression. As if on cue, he raised his right arm and on the right wall, a projection appeared.

_Name: Minerva Rose Banes_

On the wall, there was a projection of my file. Across it was a red colored stamp in the shape of a robot. It was almost identical to the one on my hand, but it was different. I remembered a conversation that I'd once had with Speed.

_"Do you know what this is?" I asked, gesturing to my right hand. The image of the robot face still etched on it._

_Speed flipped my hand over, holding it in his hands. I couldn't help but think of how soft they were. "This is the symbol of the Autobots. Every Autobot has it etched on them somewhere. How did you receive that?"_

_I told him about that night in the junkyard. The one that seemed have happened years ago. I described what had happened to me. _

_"Do you know why that happened to me?"_

_He looked up at me, giving a boyish smile. "No. But what I do know, is that it was no accident. Fate works in mysterious ways."_

_"Yes, shifu," I joked, holding my palms together and bowing. Looking back, I saw that he had a confused look on his face. I laughed aloud._

If the robot on my hand was a symbol of the Autobots, that meant that the one that was stamped across my file was the Decepticon symbol.

Before I could protest the idea of me being a Decepticon spy - or whatever they thought I was - I was cut off by the sound of squealing. Trying to locate the sound, I turned to right. The projection that was originally showing my file, was now broadcasting, what looked like, a home video.

"Minnie, stop it!" a little girl screamed. Her hands were outstretched, trying to fend of the water that was being sprayed at her. The little girl finally grabbed hold of the hose and proceeded to fight for it with another little girl.

It only took me a moment to realize that those two girls were Mikaela and I. My eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember that moment. In the video I looked about five, so that meant there was no way I could've remembered that.

The scene changed to pictures of me growing up, bringing back memories that I'd forgotten about. There was Mikaela and I both wearing Mickey ears while on the _It's a Small World_ ride in _Disney World_ when we were eight. Followed by more pictures. The time I came second in the school Science Fair, me and my baseball team, me, my dad and Archie working on some cars.

I didn't realize how much I missed home until then. I didn't realize how… good I'd had it.

Everything in my life was great. I had a loving father and sister. My grades were excellent. I'd been as lucky as to be invited to a program that only a few people were considered for.

A video of Miles, Sam and I showed up on-screen. We were having a movie marathon at my house. Sam and Miles somehow convinced me to watch all six Star Wars movies. Sam was shooting the video, catching all the snide comments I was making about the film. It ended up into a fight between Miles and I, one that Sam got caught in-between. His girlish shriek made me smile.

I remembered that night. Sam got upset when Miles went to go hit me with a pillow, missing me by a mile and knocking some soda on Sam's pants. It turned into a sleepover and we'd only made it to the fourth movie before we'd crashed. It was a good thing that dad and Mikaela weren't there that weekend, or things would've been pretty awkward.

"I think I have the right to be upset, Sam! She's my sister!"

The voice had brought me out of my thoughts. I hadn't even realized that the video had changed. I saw Mikaela next to Sam and two soldiers. The same ones that I'd seen at Hoover Dam. And one of them was the one that had kidnapped me.

Around them were Cybertronians. Probably the Autobots that I'd heard so much about. There was one that stood out. He was taller than the rest, and an air of authority, similar yet stronger than the one Speed radiates. This was obviously their leader. Optimus Prime.

"We need you to tell us as much as you can about you sister, Mikaela. We need to know if she's ever had any connections to Decepticons or shown any unusual behaviour." Optimus told her.

I watched as everyone looked at Mikaela. Her eyes were watery and her fists were clenched. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"That's just it," Mikaela began. I could tell she was trying not to cry. "She's… she's never been anything but Minnie. My nerdy, little sister. I know that we're not as close as sisters should be, but I know her. Or, at least I thought I did. She was always the goody-two-shoes. Always the reliable one. When our dad was being arrested and we were interrogated, Minnie was the first one to say she didn't know anything. She wouldn't give him up. I guess people change. She's no longer my sister"

"Mikaela -" the Caucasian soldier started.

She shook her head, "No, Lennox, you don't get it. She just turned her back on me - her only sister - for a bunch of Decepticons she barely even knows. Why should I care about her when she doesn't care about me? That's not the Minnie I know. That's someone completely different in her body. And as far as I'm concerned, my sister's dead."

Mikaela got up and stormed out of the room.

The screen turned into a composition of videos and pictures of my life. There were so many moments, so many memories. I couldn't think straight.

_As far as I'm concerned, my sister's dead._

Suddenly, the projection shut off. I stared at Johnston, expecting to see some comfort in his eyes. Instead they held pity and something else that I couldn't name. Johnston shook his head.

"What happened to you, Minnie?" Johnston questioned. I didn't have an answer to that question. "You had everything. A loving family, friends, a wonderful education. And you decided to throw it all away - and for what?"

"For you! For everyone! I'm not a Decepticon and I'm not with them. I'm on your side. I always have been. Maybe you can't see that now but you will."

Johnston just looked at me like I was a mental case. "So by hanging around a bunch of Decepticons you think you're saving the world? They must really have you under their spell."

I rose to my friends' defence. "Hey, they are not Decepticons! And I do not do whatever I want. They don't have me under any spell."

"Oh, so destroying an entire mall and hurting and killing people in the process is definitely not something a Decepticon would do, is it?" he asked sarcastically, making me speechless. "Why would you associate yourself with people like that?"

The words, "I just wanted the adventure of a lifetime," tumbled out of my mouth.

Johnston scoffed, giving me an expression that read, _You're unbelievable._ He said, "Well, doll face. You got what you wanted," He got up from his chair, exiting the room. "But you lost what you had," he finished, shaking his head before he closed the door.

And I began to think about it. I did have everything. Sam was my friend. Maybe I was never really invited over to his house a lot. Maybe he was more preoccupied in getting my sister's attention than mine. But did I let jealousy and my insecurities get in the way of one of the only friendships I had?

_"Friends? Oh, so now I'm your _friend_, is it, Sam? Why didn't my so-called _friend _invite me to go to that lake party with him? Why didn't my _friend_ introduce me to his parents as _friend_ and not classmate? Why didn't my _friend_ talk to me when other girls were around? Oh please, Sam! You and I both know that I was nothing but a stepping stone to Mikaela because you didn't have the balls to ask her out yourself!"_

I flinched at the memory. The hurt look on Sam's face kept replaying in my head.

My hand went to my neck, trying to reach for the shard. I needed a reminder as to why I was doing this. When my hand couldn't feel the string that was usually attached to the shard, I began to panic. Looking down, I nearly screamed when I couldn't find the shard.

_Those idiots took it._

I couldn't help but let the tears flow. The sobs wracked through my body. My sister hated me. I'd been captured by government agents who were probably going to throw me in jail for the rest of my life and I singlehandedly messed up one of the only friendships I've ever had.

When did everything go wrong?

* * *

**A/N: Finally! I know not one of my longest chapters, but it was important for character development. I hope it wasn't too filler-y. But the next chapter is the escape! And the one after is when the new person joins the group! I'm excited.**

**I wasn't listening to _Won't Go Home Without You _by Maroon 5 on repeat while writing this chapter. You should check it out. It's a great song.**

**And I know there was no romance or fluff in this chapter but the next one will have some of that, so don't you fret!**

**Please don't forget to read and review. Also thanks for reading. **

**Hugs, Kisses and Awkwardness to all**

** - MissyAwkward**


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